President Javier Milei told Argentines that “the worst is over” on Monday as he used a speech unveiling aspects of his government’s 2026 Budget bill to make a pre-midterm election pitch to voters.
Milei, 54, announced plans to boost spending on pensions, healthcare, education and support for the disabled next year in the bill – a reaction to sectors that have been hit the hardest by nearly two years of biting austerity from his government.
“The worst is over,” Milei claimed in a 15-minute ‘Cadena Nacional’ nationwide broadcast, unveiling the draft 2026 budget.
Milei’s speech came just eight days after his party was trounced in regional elections in Buenos Aires Province.
“This time, the effort all Argentines are making is worth it,” Milei assured voters, while conceding: “We understand that many have not yet felt [the results] in their material reality.”
“This budget, like the one submitted last year, upholds fiscal balance. Today the future of Argentina depends fundamentally on one thing: that the people and the political class commit to fiscal order,” said the President.
“This is not just a draft bill, it is the ratification of our commitment to get the country back on its feet,” he added.
Appealing for more time for his reforms to take effect, Milei declared: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Despite that, the head of state predicted that Argentina’s GDP could grow five percent next year, rising to seven or eight percent if his reforms are implemented.
At such rates, he said, in 10 years Argentina could resemble one of the world’s high-income countries, while in 20 it could be among the richest nations. In 30, Milei predicted, Argentina would be one of the world’s top powers.
The government did not reach a consensus in Congress to approve its two previous Budget bills. Since then, it has merely rolled over the 2023 version.
Extending the old budget year by year has given the head of state wide discretion in the management of funds.
A heated debate is expected in Congress for this incarnation, with opposition blocs keen to amend the government’s draft.
Spending increases
Milei’s speech came with a clear electoral tone. He promised above-inflation increases for health, pensions, disability and education.
He also expressed his desire to work “side by side” with governors and lawmakers – provided they agree to fiscal balance.
While announcing relief for some of those worst affected by his deep spending cuts, Milei insisted that balancing the budget – his paramount goal since taking power in December 2023 – remained “non-negotiable.”
He described it as the “cornerstone” of his administration, stating that his government had delivered “the largest adjustment in the history of humanity.”
“No country in the world can function without a balanced budget, which is why politicians everywhere build consensus to pass the law of laws. We understand that fiscal balance might seem like a whim, but it is nothing less than the definitive solution to the problems that have plagued Argentina for decades,” said Milei.
The Budget contains “the lowest level of national spending relative to GDP in 30 years,” he noted.
For the first time since the 1990s, national spending will be lower than provincial spending, according to the government.
The draft bill would prevent the Treasury from financing itself via the Central Bank and introduce a fiscal stability rule, requiring cuts in other areas of public spending if revenue falls short or costs rise above projections.
On allocations, Milei announced real-term spending increases for education, health and the disabled.
“This Budget assigns 4.8 trillion pesos to national universities, raises pension spending by give percent and health spending by 17 percent, both above projected inflation. Education spending also rises eight percent above inflation. Disability pensions will increase five percent in real terms.
“In short, if the Budget is the government’s plan, then 85 percent of it will be allocated to education, health and pensions,” said the President, seeking to challenge some of the strongest opposition attack lines against his administration.
Headwinds
Headwinds
The La Libertad Avanza leader is facing considerable political and economic headwinds as he gears up for crucial midterm elections next month.
His party suffered a near 14-point stinging defeat at the hands of the opposition Peronist movement in elections for the Buenos Aires Province legislature that were seen as a litmus test of Milei’s popularity.
The October 26 vote will define the make-up of Congress for the next two years of his administration.
The Milei government is already going into the midterms under a corruption cloud, following allegations that the President’s sister and chief-of-staff, Karina Milei, received a cut on state medicine contracts for the disabled. Other top officials have also been implicated.
The President has dismissed those claims, though his sister has not spoken directly in public about them.
Milei closed out his speech with a personal reflection: “It has taken great effort to get here. We have all made sacrifices to climb out of the hole we were in when we took office.”
“We know the road is arduous, but we also know it is the right one,” he concluded.
Milei’s critics, however, weren’t sold. Some online noted that the President’s “worst is over” comment was the same line uttered in March 2018 by then-president Mauricio Macri to Congress.
Days after that remark, an exchange rate crisis began and inflation began to accelerate. At that time, the peso traded at around 20 pesos per US dollar – today, the figure is closer to 1,450 per greenback.
– TIMES/AFP/PERFIL
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