President Bush said today that Argentine President Nestor Kirchner told him he wished the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had a different view on Argentina.
Argentina has been pushing for the lender to adopt a more flexible stance on several economic policies issues such as taxes, debt, interest rates and exchange rates.
"He [Mr Kirchner] has been an outspoken person for reform," said Mr Bush, who is in Argentina attending the 34-nation Summit of the Americas.
"I was pleased that the United States was helpful during the early part of his term with the IMF and I suggested that his record is such now that he can take his case to the IMF with a, with a much stronger hand," Mr Bush said.
Mr Kirchner is a fierce critic of the IMF in tensions that date back to the economic meltdown triggered by the government's free-spending ways that eventually drove the country to economic crisis.
Argentina suspended talks with the IMF more than a year ago to focus on restructuring $100 billion in defaulted debt with private creditors but has said it is ready to restart talks.