Slowly but surely, Argentina is trying to persuade the international community that it is a normal country again, a reputation that it was forced to forfeit with the biggest default on sovereign debt in history five years ago.

After restructuring its debt with private bondholders in February 2005 and paying off the International Monetary Fund in full at the start of 2006, Argentina is now ready to tackle the $6.3bn of defaulted debt owed to the Paris Club, an informal group of official creditors.