Argentina's squabbling Congress have approved IMF-required reforms to a controversial bankruptcy law seen as a key step toward unlocking long-frozen international aid.
But while the senate approved reforms to the law, overturning clauses that had stacked the odds in favor of debtors at the expense of creditors amid Argentina's worst-ever crisis, there are still major hurdles President Eduardo Duhalde must clear.
To guarantee International Monetary Fund aid, he must also win backing from a reluctant Congress to ditch a law covering economic crimes and convince powerful provincial governments to stop runaway spending that helped cause the crisis.
While the IMF aid will only help Argentina pay back debt to the lending agency, it is seen as a crucial first step to unraveling any further aid packages to help rescue Latin America's No. 3 economy from a four-year recession that has put the banks near collapse and sparked violent street protests.