2023-12-12 23:45:12
The Argentine government of ultraliberal President Javier Milei, inaugurated on Sunday, announced on Tuesday a strong devaluation of more than 50% of the peso, the national currency, going to 800 pesos to the dollar, to stabilize the economy plagued by inflation and a chronic debt.
The devaluation of a peso that was considered notoriously undervalued, to just under 400 to the dollar, is part of a series of “emergency” measures announced by Economy Minister Luis Caputo, including a reduction in public subsidies for energy and transport.
These measures, explained the minister in a speech, aim to avoid the “catastrophe” of hyperinflation which according to him might reach 15,000%.
“The genesis of our problems has always been budgetary,” said Mr. Caputo, estimating that for the first time, by voting with a large majority for Javier Milei, Argentines showed that they understood “that there is no has no money.”
The devaluation, as well as the reduction in long-standing subsidies for transport and energy, is destined to initially strongly and negatively affect the purchasing power of Argentines, 40% of whom live below the poverty line.
To their attention, the Minister of the Economy assured that the government will maintain social programs to assist with access to employment and “strengthen social policies for those who need them, without intermediaries”, a- he insisted, like “food cards” (purchase vouchers for the most deprived).
President Milei indicated in his inauguration speech on Sunday that “the situation would get worse in the short term” before the economy, the third largest in Latin America, reaps the benefits of budgetary austerity, by controlling chronic inflation. , currently at 143% over one year.
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