National economy Argentina's president's budget for 2025 exactly like 2024 and 23
2025 will simply be like 2024 and 2023: When it comes to the national budget, Argentine President Javier Milei is not making a big fuss.
31.12.2024, 01:25
SDA
It is appropriate to "extend the resources, financial revenues and credits in force at the end of 2024", it was announced in Argentina's official gazette on Monday. Therefore, the budget for the coming year looks exactly the same as the year that is coming to an end and the year before.
The new simple extension of the financial plan is all the more remarkable given that inflation has skyrocketed to 628 percent between the adoption of the last budget law in November 2022 and November 2024, according to calculations based on official figures.
In September, the right-wing populist and self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" Milei submitted a budget law to parliament that envisaged inflation of just 18.5 percent and gross domestic product (GDP) growth of five percent in the coming year. However, the text failed in parliament because the changes demanded by the opposition, such as more money for pensioners and universities, were not met.
According to the ruling party, this would have ruined their goal of achieving a budget surplus. However, opposition MP Margarita Stolbizer accused Milei in the online service X that he had deliberately allowed the budget law to fail "so that he can spend the money as he pleases, like a little monarch".
Argentina is currently undergoing extreme austerity measures. The South American country is in difficult negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a new support program. The current aid package worth 44 billion dollars expires at the end of the year.
