Argentina's Milei withdraws tax, pension 'reforms' amid strong opposition
Business
The libertarian president is still eyeing dollarisation of economy
BUENOS AIRES (AFP) – The government of Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei is withdrawing key fiscal measures from a sweeping omnibus bill after facing stiff political opposition, Economy Minister Luis Caputo said Friday.
The measures included tax and pension reforms. The rest of the bill, still being put forward, intends to introduce sweeping changes and deregulation to Argentina's economy.
Many of Milei's reforms thus far are being challenged in court, with more than 60 lawsuits under way by labor unions, business chambers and NGOs.
Read more: Thousands protest against Milei's planned Argentina budget cuts
The withdrawal of the fiscal portion of the bill "does not imply that we are going to give up our commitment to achieve fiscal balance, our goal of zero deficit," Caputo said.
"We are just going to give ourselves a little more time" to negotiate the reforms, he added.
Milei said this week that the South American nation is closer to being able to comply with his proposal to dollarise the economy, which Caputo agreed with.
"Dollarisation is a goal of this government and it will be done when the conditions are right. Today the conditions are better than when we took office," Caputo said.
Tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets earlier this week and many downed tools in a major challenge to Milei's budget-slashing policies.
As an outsider candidate, Milei rode a wave of anger over decades of economic decline to win the December election.
Under the slogan "There's no money," he vowed to drastic spending cut in Argentina, where inflation exceeded 200 percent last year.
He has since devalued the peso by more than 50 per cent, cut state subsidies for fuel and transport and reduced the number of ministries by half.
But many citizens fear Milei's package of deregulation and economic reform will leave them vulnerable to exploitation, and even poorer.
