Cheap housing loans form part of Argentina stimulus plan

Argentina is rolling out a major economic stimulus plan, using pension and treasury funds to provide nearly cost-free housing loans of up to 77,000 each to 400,000 people who have been closed out of private-sector borrowing.

Buenos Aires governor Daniel Scioli ordered all "non-productive" government-owned land to be made available to the programme President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner announced hours earlier.

The vast Buenos Aires province surrounding Argentina's capital is plagued with slums and has by far the nation's largest population in need of housing.