Argentina unveils austerity plan

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina's government unveiled an ambitious plan to rescue its devastated economy Sunday, including the partial easement of a maligned banking freeze. The plan also calls for moving to a free-floating peso and slashing a bloated budget deficit.

Economy Minister Jorge Remes Lenicov said he would present a 2002 "austerity" budget to Congress in the coming days.

"Argentina is broke," he said at a news conference Sunday, rolling out the wide-ranging plan meant to ease the crisis that toppled the last elected leader in December.

He said the plan's goal is to restart industrial production and ignite the economy, but said that "there are no magic solutions, and no easy solutions" as the country embarks on a wholesale transformation of its near-moribund economy.