Argentina: Milei Defeated in Parliament on Pension Reform
Senate approves pension reform with 61 votes in favor and eight against
New misstep for Javier Milei’s Argentine government on pensions. Following House approval in June, the Senate also approved (61 votes for and 8 against) the pension reform on August 22, which includes an adjustment for the nation’s double-digit inflation rate.
A choice that risks destroying the fiscal austerity plan that Milei sought, which is why the president announced he would veto the reform. This law “had as its sole purpose to destroy the government’s economic program” and provides for additional spending of 1.2% of GDP, Milei’s office wrote on the X website.
Milei explained that the decision of the National Congress is “an act of demagogic populism, it approved an irresponsible, illegal, and unconstitutional bill that establishes exorbitant expenditures without a corresponding budget line.” In office since December 2023, Milei has been grappling with Argentina’s chronic economic crisis and out-of-control inflation. Meanwhile, about half of the population suffers from poverty.
