By Peter Greste BBC South America correspondent in Buenos Aires

Argentina's President, Eduardo Duhalde, has signed a decree outlining a plan to end the controversial and unpopular freeze on bank deposits.

The government imposed restrictions six months ago to stop an anticipated run on bank accounts which, could have triggered the collapse of the entire banking system.

The government's new plan comes after repeated bitter public protests about the morality of blocking access to what rightfully belongs to the people.

But it does not give the public unfettered access to its cash, as so many have been demanding in daily protests.

Faith shattered

Instead, President Duhalde has offered to swap 30bn pesos ($8.5bn) of deposits for government bonds that can be converted to cash in either five or 10 years' time.

Duhalde: Many financial restrictions remain in place

Deposit holders who do not want the bonds will be given bank certificates that they can use to buy big ticket items such as properties and cars.

The restrictions on cash withdrawals remain in place, but the government is also going to allow exporters to open dollar bank accounts for foreign trade.

The hope is that the package will help stoke consumer demand, which has all but dried up in the country's worst economic crisis in its history.

It also goes at least some of the way towards meeting the conditions the IMF has been demanding before it agrees to another multi-billion dollar aid package.

But it is not likely to be enough to ease the public anger with politicians for enforcing the restrictions in the first place, or enough to restore faith in the banking system.

Polls consistently show that the majority of Argentines now have so little faith in their financial institutions that in future they will stuff their savings under the mattress as soon as they can get access to them.

And the whole notion of bonds has attracted storms of criticism. Protesters' placards have made no secret of their disdain for an idea which, they insist, simply robs them to save the skin of domestic and foreign financiers.