2024-09-26 20:46:38
Having been increasing for two years, poverty has increased by 11 points in Argentina over the last six months to reach 52.9% of the population, according to official figures released Thursday. President Javier Milei’s austerity policy, which helped bring down inflation, has also caused thousands of job losses in the country.
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Poverty is getting worse in Argentina. Continuously increasing for two years, it reached nearly 53% of the population in the first half of 2024, a jump of more than 11 points over six months, according to official figures published Thursday September 26.
Some 15.7 million Argentines, or 52.9% of the population, lived below the poverty line, compared to 41.7% in the second half of 2023, according to figures from the national statistics institute (Indec), the the first relating to the period of austerity carried out since December under the presidency of the ultraliberal Javier Milei.
Over the period considered, Indec defined the poverty line based on a basket of basic goods and services, at 237,000 pesos (nearly 240 dollars).
At the same time, indigence or extreme poverty, defined as below a basic food basket of 107,000 pesos ($109), has also increased sharply, affecting 5.4 million Argentines in the first half of the year, or 18.1% of the population, according to Indec. A jump of more than six points.
Falling inflation but strong recession
Javier Milei, an “anarcho-capitalist” economist as he defines himself, has been leading a drastic austerity policy for nine months, which has seen in particular a brutal devaluation of the peso by more than 50% at the end of 2023, and a drying up of public spending, in the name of the “zero budget deficit” objective.
After nine months in power, this policy led to a marked deceleration of inflation, reduced to around 4% monthly (compared to 17% on average per month in 2023) and several successive monthly budget balances, unprecedented for 15 years in Argentina.
But it also led to a strong recession (-3.5% forecast at the end of 2024), a drop in activity and thousands of job losses.
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