Sitting in his office sipping mate, a traditional Argentine herbal tea, Amado Boudou has no doubt that his most significant achievement as economy minister would be to take his country back to international capital markets.

With his blue eyes and Johnny Hallyday looks, such a move would be a stunning feat by a man many in Argentina consider just a “pretty face”. It would also mark a remarkable return by a country that defaulted on $95bn of debt eight years ago – the largest sovereign default in history – and bitterly turned its back on the International Monetary Fund, which it blamed for leading Argentina down the road to ruin.