- About three and a half months after taking office, Argentina's ultra-liberal President Javier Miley announced the first quarterly budget surplus in more than 15 years.
- In March alone, the surplus amounted to about 276 billion pesos (about 289 million Swiss francs), Miley said in a televised speech.
- “This is the first quarter with a budget surplus since 2008,” Miley said.
Argentina has been suffering from a severe economic crisis for years. Miley described the result as “a milestone of which we should all be proud, especially in light of the disastrous legacy we have had to overcome.”
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During his televised speech, Miley said that the government is right and its plan is successful.
Reuters/Augustin Markarian
The government in Buenos Aires recently cut thousands of jobs in the public sector, halved the number of ministries, reduced subsidies, and halted social programs. The inflation rate has risen to 280 percent in recent months.
Miley calls for perseverance
Critics complain that Miley's strict austerity measures are pushing too many people into poverty. Food prices have risen by more than half in a country where the poverty rate is about 60 percent.
Milley is accused of endangering the country's future through cuts in the education sector, for example. Students, lecturers and professors therefore called for nationwide protests.
“I want to say to all Argentines that I understand that the situation we are living in is difficult. “But we're also already more than halfway there,” Miley said.
“This is the final stage of the heroic effort of us Argentines, and for the first time in a long time, this effort will be worth it.”
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