Argentina will default for a second time on a $700m (£441m) payment due to the World Bank, effectively isolating the country from all major international lenders.
"We are not going to pay," Cabinet Chief Alfredo Atanasof told reporters.
The default comes almost a year to the day that rioting over the economic policies of President Fernando de la Rua caused him to resign.
Argentina is now considered to be in the same league as Iraq in terms of defaulting on multilateral loans.
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