MERRILL LYNCH APPOINTED TO STRUCTURE WORLD'S LARGEST SOVEREIGN DEBT
EXCHANGE

LONDON, November 21 - Merrill Lynch has been appointed by Argentina's
Ministry of the Economy to act jointly with Deutsche Bank and Salomon
Smith Barney to structure the upcoming international debt exchange for
the Republic of Argentina. The exchange is estimated to exceed $60
billion.

The Merrill Lynch team is headed by Dr. Jacob A. Frenkel, president of
Merrill Lynch International and Chairman of the firm's Sovereign
Advisory Group.

This new mandate follows the appointment last month of Dr. Frenkel and
the Sovereign Advisory Group to advise the Republic of Argentina on
macro-economic policy and the design of strategies for economic growth
and stability, including strategies for debt management.
Upon the new appointment, Dr. Frenkel said: "The external debt
restructuring is an essential part of Argentina's program to...