Name: Argentinas President Javier Milei marks two turbulent years in office
Uploaded: 2025-12-11T08:21:01.465Z
Duration: 2 min 47 s
Description: Two years into his presidency, Javier Milei’s economic reforms spark both praise and criticism.

Two years into his presidency, Javier Milei’s economic reforms spark both praise and criticism.

Buenos Aires

President Javier Milei has completed two years in office, during which he implemented significant economic reforms aimed at stabilizing Argentina's economy. Inflation has decreased from 12% to 2% per month, and the fiscal deficit has been reduced, earning support from international markets and organizations such as the IMF.

Despite these improvements, Milei's policies have led to widespread business closures, cuts to public services, and frequent protests. His administration remains controversial due to increased military spending and divisive rhetoric, leaving Argentina politically and socially divided midway through his term.

Argentina's President Javier Milei marks two turbulent years in office

President Millet arriving in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, flaunting the colours of Argentina's national oil company YPF, promoting his country's economy on the world stage. It's doing well, he says, showing signs of recovery, a country worth investing in, particularly in the oil and gas and mining industries. This is a way out of the mess that Argentina has been for many, many years. So everybody knows that, everyone is aligned to that, even the communities, local communities, the natives. This has to work, and if it doesn't work, it's going to be a big hole in the economy. The figures add up, some of them anyway. Inflation down from a catastrophic 12% a month to a still high but more manageable 2%. The fiscal deficit reduced. Markets love him. So too do Donald Trump and the International Monetary Fund. On balance, I think that the inheritance that he received from the previous administration was very heavy, very bad. And he was able to put this economy on track. And for the first two years with no political muscle, that was more than enough in my view. A surprising win in October's midterm elections gave Millet some of that political muscle he was missing. He's now trying to push a raft of measures through Congress, including reform of what he says are restrictive labour laws. So on the right track, say some, reducing inflation and controlling the fiscal deficit to create conditions for investment in Argentina's agricultural, mining and energy industries. There will be winners, but there have already been plenty of losers. Tens of thousands of businesses closed, public spending cuts devastating the health and education sectors, regular demonstrations by public sector workers, environmentalists and more. Millet can also be divisive, spending on fighter jets and appointing a military man as his defence secretary in a country still sensitive to human rights abuses committed by the armed forces in the 1970s and 80s. And insulting pensioners, women, the LGBTQ community and the disabled with his contentious rhetoric. This year we don't even know whether we'll have enough for Christmas dinner, because the truth is we can take much more of this. But love him or hate him, Javier Millet is making things happen. However, halfway through his mandate, Argentina is still a country divided. Daniel Schwimmer, Al Jazeera, Buenos Aires.

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