With a tough economic horizon, Argentina begins the ‘Milei era’

With a tough economic horizon, beyond the already complicated present, Argentina began this Sunday the ‘era Milei‘, the presidential mandate of the libertarian economist who kicked the board of the South American country’s politics until he became the “first liberal libertarian president” of history.

With that phrase that he used on the election night of November 19, when he defeated the official candidate and now former Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa, and that he repeated today from the balcony of the Casa Rosada once he had become president, the leader of La Libertad Avanza (far-right), Javier Milei, was sworn in as president of Argentina for the period 2023-2027.

With almost a 150% of interannual inflation, a 40% of poverty in the population and a 10% of destitution, shortage of foreign exchange reserves, a 150% With an exchange gap between the official dollar and the parallel dollar (or ‘blue’), impoverished salaries and a debt with the IMF close to US$46 billion, Argentina has a black present.

But, far from sweetening the situation or offering “a comfortable lie”the new president – who, breaking tradition, chose not to give a speech before the Legislative Assembly but in the street in front of the citizens – gave a speech to the Argentines “an uncomfortable truth”.

Milei appealed to the “worse” inheritance received by “no government” until now to affirm that it will apply a harsh adjustment and that there will “stagflation” for several months, but he promised that this will be the “last bad drink” before the “reconstruction” of the South American country.

“Today a new era begins in Argentina”, he proclaimed at the beginning of his speech from a platform in front of the National Congress, where he was flanked by the main heads of State and Government present at his inauguration, King Felipe VI; the presidents of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky; Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou; Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and Chile, Gabriel Boric, who had already attended the official swearing-in.

The new Argentine president confirmed that he will apply a fiscal adjustment of 5% of GDP that, he promised, will fall “almost completely” on the State and not on the private sector, and confirmed that “will clean” the liabilities of the Central Bank and will put an end to the monetary issue, which in his opinion is the cause of Argentina’s high inflation.

But he pointed out that monetary policy acts with a lag of between 18 and 24 months, so he anticipated that inflation will remain high, and cited private forecasts that foresee monthly rates of between twenty% and the 40% from now until next February.

And, in an optimistic vision of what is coming from now on, Milei told Argentines that stagflation (high inflation with economic decline) “It will be the last bad drink” toward “the reconstruction of Argentina.”

From ‘first lady’ to secretary of the Presidency

With tens of thousands of supporters in the streets, with an aesthetic similar to what could be seen last December, when Argentina was proclaimed champion of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Albiceleste t-shirts and flags and without party banners, Milei received a mass bath, in which his sister and main advisor, Karina Milei, was his permanent companion.

Taking the role of ‘first lady’ -instead of his girlfriend, the actress and comedian Fátima Flórez, with whom Milei does not live together and it does not seem like she will do so in the short term-, ‘The Boss’, as her brother nicknames her , did not leave him for a moment and even held his cane when he gave the speech.

Since this Sunday, she also became general secretary of the Presidency, for which it was necessary to repeal a decree established in 2018 by the then president Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) to avoid nepotism.

In his first step in the presidential chair, Milei also signed the reduction of the current eighteen ministries to only nine, with the ratification – announced last Friday – that Health, which would initially be under the Human Capital portfolio, would maintain its current status. .

After the swearing-in of his cabinet, the president participated in an interreligious ceremony at the Metropolitan Cathedral, before closing the day with a special gala at the Teatro Colón, a lyrical temple in Buenos Aires, in which Milei will listen “Ballad for a crazy”, the tango composed by the Argentine musician Astor Piazzolla with lyrics by the Uruguayan poet Horacio Ferrer.