The Argentinian government formally empowered the Ministry of Economy on Monday to contract up to $5 billion in public debt with international financial institutions and to submit any future creditor litigation exclusively to U.S. federal courts.

The measure was published in the Official Gazette through Decree 478/2026, which delegates to the Secretariat of Treasury and the Secretariat of Finance the authority to negotiate loan terms, define financial conditions, and determine repayment schedules, currencies, and methods for each operation – all without requiring prior congressional approval.

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While the decree grants the Executive broad leeway to tap international credit markets, it simultaneously preserves immunity for a specific set of state-owned assets. Any seizure attempt against Central Bank reserves or accounts, public-domain property within Argentinian territory, assets tied to essential public services or declared of public utility by Congress, diplomatic and consular holdings, military or defense-related property, cultural heritage items, and outstanding tax or royalty receivables due to the national government will be formally objected to under the decree’s protective clauses, according to Pagina 12.

The measure comes as the government seeks alternative financing channels amid persistent difficulties in issuing bonds to private holders. Although the country-risk index briefly dipped below 500 basis points over the past month, prevailing yields on a potential sovereign bond offering remain prohibitively high, prompting the administration to turn to official multilateral and bilateral lenders instead.

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