More than half of Argentina’s 46 million people now live in poverty, new data shows, dealing a blow to right-wing President Javier Milley’s efforts to turn around the country’s struggling economy.
The country’s Indec statistics agency said the poverty rate in the first six months of this year was 52.9%, up from 41.7% in the second half of 2023.
Since taking office in December, Milley has slashed transport, fuel and energy subsidies and laid off thousands of civil servants in a bid to lower inflation and reduce government spending.
Argentina’s annual inflation rate exceeded 230% in August, still one of the highest in the world.
Milley, however, succeeded in curbing rampant government overspending that was widely blamed for the country’s economic woes. After years of racking up huge budget deficits, Argentina has posted fiscal surpluses every month since February.
Government spokesman Manuel Adoni, speaking at a news conference, blamed the current troubles on the former left-wing Peronist government.
He described the increase in poverty as “the result of the years of misery and destruction that populism has caused Argentina”.
He added: “The government has inherited a disastrous situation, the worst legacy that a government in a democracy can inherit, perhaps one of the worst legacies that a government can inherit in history.”
Poverty rates in Argentina were already rising before the Milais government took office. As recently as 2017, only about a quarter of the population was affected.
When Mire became president, he promised shock therapy, devaluing the peso by 50% and cutting the number of government ministries in half.
But the president faces strong opposition, including from labor unions, who have repeatedly taken to the streets to protest his plans and their impact on workers’ rights.
To make matters worse, his party, La Libertad Avanza, does not hold a majority in Argentina’s Congress and is finding it difficult to reach cross-party agreements.
Peronist lawmakers were quick to attack the figures, with one, Victoria Tolosa Paz, accusing the government of pursuing “ruthless austerity” policies that she said were “hitting working families ”.
Although Mire’s approval rating dropped to 40% between August and September, his government still enjoys relative support among Argentines, with an approval rating of 53%, according to polling agency Poliarquía.
