He also announced plans for tax revisions and the sale of parts of Argentina's debt-ridden state-owned companies.

Mr. Han said that threat gave the government an incentive to remain disciplined and keep up the pressure for the overhaul of debt-ridden companies.

After virtually everyone in the theater world had written off the debt-ridden company 12 years ago, he cut costs and brought it back from the dead.

It was an unusually aggressive and expensive campaign for a debt-ridden company stuck in a defensive mode in recent years.

But production in state enterprises, which comprise more than half of the debt-ridden companies in China, rose only 4.7 percent.

The agreement includes limiting the budget deficit and setting a timetable for the sale or privatization of debt-ridden companies and banks.

The finance ministry welcomed Mr. Sommer's resignation, which it said would open the door to a new strategy for the debt-ridden company.

Since 1997, the government has committed 150 trillion won ($120 billion), including 40 trillion won late last year, to prop up debt-ridden companies.

Making matters worse, Grumman is a debt-ridden company still hurting from a failed plan to diversify into nonmilitary products like buses.

They would then flip the debt-ridden company as quickly as possible, either to another buyer or through a public offering.