After a wobble in Buenos Aires’ local elections last month Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza has secured a decisive victory in legislative elections overnight. Half of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the seats in the Senate were at stake…
With 95% of votes counted Milei’s party got 40.84% of the votes cast for Congress compared with 31.64% for the Peronist coalition. Thus securing support from the White House going forward…
La Libertad Avanza has now tripled its seat count from 37 deputies to 101 and six senators to 20. Fenómeno barrial…
Javier Milei’s minister of deregulation and state transformation Federico Sturzenegger is having a great time at the IMF today. He quoted Yoda in a forum discussion:
“Master Yoda says: ‘the fear of loss is the path to the dark side’. (…) Meaning, in this turbulent times you have to stick to your vision, to your values and your policies. In our case: fiscal macroeconomic stability, deregulation, and economic freedom.”
Sturzenegger, formerly professor of economics at Harvard, also handed IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva chainsaw pin: “Our symbol is this pin which is a chainsaw – we wear proudly this chainsaw pin – which paid with our own money and not with government money I just want to clarify.” Does he have one to give to Reeves…
Milei relaxed the fixed exchange rate of the peso on 14 April and, contrary to constant statements from left-wing economists and think tanks that it would crash, it yesterday traded at above its previous fixed rate. Economy minister Luis Caputo mocked them: “We’d wait for a wave of apologies from colleagues and journalists apologising for telling people we were devaluing, but I’m sure it won’t come.” Oops…
Milei’s spokesman has today announced that Argentina will pull out of the WHO. Following Trump’s lead…
He says this is because of “deep differences regarding health management especially during the pandemic” and that the WHO’s management put Argentina under “certain countries’ political influence.” Argentina currently contributes 0.71% of the WHO’s budget. About $50 million…
Over in the UK Labour is increasing funding to the body to the tune of hundreds of millions. Naturally…
The New Year provides more good news for Javier Milei. Argentina’s GDP is expected to grow by 5% in 2025, according to the IMF’s latest economic outlook, a whopping turnaround from 2024’s estimate of a dismal -2.8%. Last month, the libertarian’s 2025 budget plan, lauded by investors, alongside a rebound in consumer spending and capital investment, helped lift GDP out of the red. All in just over a year in office…
Meanwhile, the IMF forecasts UK growth at 1.6% in 2025, up from an earlier forecast of 1.5%, though still falling short of the OBR’s 2% prediction. “Iron Lady” Reeves should take a page from Milei’s playbook. The phrase “as rich as Argentina” looks to be making a comeback…
More good news for Javier Milei going into Christmas – Argentina emerged from recession in Q3 of 2024. From July to September GDP expanded by 3.9%. The same quarter in 2023 saw a contraction of 2.1%. Quite the way to mark one year in office…
Sovereign bonds are in recovery as JPMorgan expects a whopping 5.2% GDP growth from Argentina in 2025. A bounceback in consumer spending and capital investment are responsible for pulling GDP out of the red as Argentines give the president a vote of confidence in the polls and Milei marks a year of achievements in office. Afuera…
New data from LatAm Pulse for Bloomberg shows that over in Argentina the public is starting to come round to Javier Milei’s project after a few bumpy months. The Argentine President’s approval rating rose to 47% from 43% the previous month. October saw mass protests from students in the wake of spending cuts to unversities…
That means into Christmas Milei has net positive approval again. Monthly activity has been growing in the second half of the year while wages have been rising above inflation on a regular basis since April. Argentines are also some of the most optimistic on Trump in Latin America with almost half expecting the economic situation to improve with Donald back in the Oval Office. A lot hinges on what kind of deal Milei can get out of the IMF…
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”