Rather than leaving it to his Minister of Economy as tradition dictates, the far-right Argentine president chose to come and present the 2025 budget himself to Congress. An unprecedented staging, broadcast live at prime time, in order to praise his austerity plan.
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“Zero deficit” is the golden rule that has been set Javier Milei for the 2025 budget that he presented with great fanfare to Congress on Sunday, September 15, reports our correspondent in Buenos Aires, Theo Consciousness. “ Debt is due to deficit, monetary issuance is due to deficit, inflation is due to financing the deficit by issuance, therefore poverty is due to deficit “, the Argentine president said.
In his speech, which sounded like an economics course, Javier Milei did not set out any specific targets for 2025. But he reaffirmed his mantra of balanced budgets, hammering home ” that there is nothing, but nothing more impoverishing for Argentines than the budget deficit “.
To put an end to what he presents as the cause of all Argentina’s ills, Javier Milei has reduced state spending by 30% since coming to power in December. We are not exaggerating when we say that we have achieved the largest fiscal adjustment in human history. ” he said.
Drastic budget tightening
A drastic budgetary tightening achieved at the cost of cuts in spending on pensions and education, the paralysis of infrastructure investments, and the suspension of food aid and reimbursement for cancer drugs. We have become accustomed to thinking of the state as a wet nurse who should take care of everything, from feeding to entertaining citizens. ” he justified
In conclusion, Javier Milei issued a warning to the deputies and senators who will have to approve or not his budget project for the year 2025. It will be the citizens who will place you on the Avenue of the Righteous, or on the street of the miserable rats who have bet against their country and its inhabitants. “.
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This is the first time that a president has presented the budget in person to parliament, a task that usually falls to the economy minister. Gesture ” historical “, commented Milei himself. Normally, the head of state only addresses Parliament for his investiture, or during the annual opening of the parliamentary session. This symbolic gesture is part of a context of repeated arm wrestling in recent weeks between the executive and Parliament – where Javuer Milei’s small libertarian party is very much in the minority – to advance various bills or decrees.