FOREX UPDATE

UPDATE:Argentina Min: 'Creativity' Needed To Access Credit Mkts (UPDATES to include comnents on Indec.) BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)--The Argentine government will need a lot of "creativity" to access global credit markets, Economy Minister Amado Boudou said Friday. "We'll need to look for alternatives," Boudou, who replaced former economy minister Carlos Fernandez last week, said in a radio interview. "We have to look at what the best measures are to access the markets. We shouldn't stick with what's traditional." Boudou, who came to the Economy Ministry after heading the social security agency, Anses, said Argentina will maintain its fiscal surplus in 2009. "We're going to take all the measures needed to protect it," he said. Even so, Boudou said nobody should expect the government to "adjust" policies in a way that implies cutting programs or benefits. "That has to be totally discarded," he said. Boudoue also said he planned to "do something" about the national statistics agency, Indec, though he didn't say specifically what he will do. Economists say the agency has been manipulating data - a charge government officials deny. "Indec is part of the president's agenda," he said. "It's part of my agenda, part of the community's agenda." Boudou indicated he will pursue the same kind of policies that have characterized Argentina's government in recent years. "We need to redouble our effort to maintain this course and continue improving the situation," he said. -By Taos Turner, Dow Jones Newswires; 5411-4103-6728; taos.turner@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=OgBNNDYHfkY7HuExqLXI%2FA%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. (END) Dow Jones Newswires