2023-12-21 02:01:05
The new Argentine government of ultra-liberal President Javier Milei has begun restructuring the South American country’s previously strictly regulated economy. “We are introducing the economic deregulation that Argentina so urgently needs,” Milei said in a TV speech and announced a decree with a total of 30 measures. Among other things, numerous laws, for example those regulating the labor and real estate markets, are to be repealed.
In addition, all state-owned companies will be converted into stock corporations in order to later privatize them. Previously, thousands of people took to the streets in the capital Buenos Aires against the economically liberal course of the new government. The protest remained largely peaceful after the government threatened harsh consequences in the event of road blockades. Argentina has a long tradition of social protests: demonstrators often block the streets for days to press their demands.
Argentina is in a serious economic crisis. The inflation rate is over 160 percent, and around 40 percent of people in the once rich country live below the poverty line. South America’s second largest economy suffers from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow economy that deprives the state of a lot of tax revenue. The national currency, the peso, continues to lose value against the US dollar and the mountain of debt is constantly growing.
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