Argentina’s President Milei can claim a success: a majority in parliament voted in principle for his reform package, which is intended to deregulate the economy. The MPs want to deal with the details from next week.
After a three-day marathon session and around 30 hours of debate, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies approved in principle an extensive legislative package from the ultra-liberal government of President Javier Milei.
144 parliamentarians voted for the initiative, 109 against. The package with around 300 laws provides, among other things, for the transfer of part of the legislative powers to the government for two years, the privatization of numerous state-owned companies and changes to tax and electoral law.
Milei had to make concessions
From next week onwards, the MPs will look at the legislative plans and the individual articles in detail – and vote on them separately. The Senate also still has to approve the project. Milei does not have his own majority in Congress and had to make many concessions to the opposition. Of the original 664 articles of law, more than half were deleted.
“History will remember with respect those who understood the historical context and decided to end the privileges of caste and do something for the people who were plunged into poverty and hunger by the political class for years,” said a statement from the presidential office.
Central bank should be abolished
On the sidelines of the parliamentary debate, there have been protests and clashes between demonstrators and the police in recent days. The government is putting pressure on parliamentarians to agree to the reforms given the economic situation.
After taking office in December, the economist Milei prescribed a radical treatment for the country, which had been badly hit economically. As a result, the government devalued the local currency, the peso, by more than 50 percent and began reducing subsidies in the areas of transport and energy. Milei wants to introduce the US dollar and abolish the central bank.
Inflation rate is over 200 percent
Argentina is in a serious economic crisis. The inflation rate is over 200 percent, and around 40 percent of people in the once wealthy country live below the poverty line.
South America’s second largest economy suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow economy that deprives the state of a lot of tax revenue. The national currency, the peso, continues to lose value against the US dollar and the mountain of debt is constantly growing.