Around one and a half million people took part in a nationwide strike in Argentina
Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo said on Friday (26) that the government has decided to delete the tax chapter from the socalled omnibus law, which has sparked a great debate with opposition governors and parliamentarians in order to facilitate and speed up its approval in Congress.
Although the tax part of the proposal was deleted, which included a reform of pension calculation, an externalization of undeclared assets and an increase in taxes, The government is sticking to its goal of achieving a balanced budgetCaputo said at a press conference at Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires.
“This in no way means that we will abandon our commitment to achieving fiscal balance and our goal of zero deficit,” Caputo said.
“We want to reassure people and the various economic actors that both will happen: we will not miss the zero deficit target and thereby facilitate the adoption of the most important part of the law,” he explained.
The omnibus bill is a comprehensive package of reforms ranging from tax increases to privatization, but its passage was hampered by the ruling party's minority in both houses of Congress.
Libertarian President Javier Milei, who took office in December, is trying to revive Latin America's thirdlargest economy, which has one of the highest inflation rates in the world and a poverty rate of over 40%.
Caputo, who confirmed that he would take over infrastructure in his portfolio following the departure of Minister Guillermo Ferraro, said that after inflation exceeded 200% in 2023, price increases had declined “significantly” in the last two weeks.
1 of 1 Javier Milei — Photo: Tomas Cuesta/Portal Javier Milei — Photo: Tomas Cuesta/Portal