President Milei of Argentina Pledges Dramatic Economic Change
Chika Mori and Sawako Utsumi
Modern Tokyo Times
The economy of Argentina is in a dire situation, with inflation of over 140%. Henceforth, the electorate voted for the political outsider Javier Milei.
President Milei, the new leader of Argentina, will implement economic “shock treatment” to tackle the ongoing crisis.
Milei commented that “there is no money.” Accordingly, he told the citizens of Argentina that austerity measures are needed.
The BBC reports, “He said he would undo “decades of decadence” with deep spending cuts, designed to slash huge public debts and drive down inflation, which is now higher than 140%.”
The International Monetary Fund acknowledges that Argentina is in a severe recession. Accordingly, the currency is in freefall – and poverty accounts for two out of every five citizens of Argentina.
Lee Jay Walker says: “Despite the situation being different in Greece during its last major economic crisis, a similar feeling persists in Argentina. However, Greece, unlike Argentina, had the support of the European Union (EU) once France prevented Germany from adopting even harsher austerity terms on Greece – in return for EU economic support.”
The new leader pointedly said, “The bottom line is that there is no alternative to austerity and there is no alternative to shock treatment… We know that in the short term the situation will worsen. But then we will see the fruits of our efforts.”
Reuters reports, “Milei will need to rebuild depleted central bank reserves analysts estimate to be a net $10 billion in the red, ease a looming recession, bring down 40% poverty and revamp a failing $44 billion program with the International Monetary Fund.”
Milei is trimming the size of government departments from 19 to 9 ministries. Also, his sister, Karina Milei, became the Secretary-General.
People in Argentina – supporters or opposed – understand the dire economic situation created by past administrations before he took office. Hence, Milei does have some breathing space to implement economic reforms.
The BBC reports, “The new president will likely face opposition in Argentina’s Congress, where the coalition of small right-wing and libertarian parties he leads has only minority representation.”
It is hoped that the economic ship will be steadied in Argentina.
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