Milei Sends 53 Percent of Argentines Into Poverty
Children playing in a poor neighborhood in Argentina, 2024. X/ @laurbedigital
September 27, 2024 Hour: 9:47 am
The far-right politician’s adjustment policies generated the largest increase in poverty and extreme poverty in the last 21 years.
On Thursday, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) announced that the poverty rate in Argentina reached 52.9 percent during the first six months of President Javier Milei’s administration.
RELATED:
Milei To Hand Over Aerolineas Argentinas Routes to Private Companies
This figure represents an increase of 11.2 percentage points compared to the poverty level at the end of 2023. It also marks the highest poverty rate in the last 21 years. INDEC also confirmed that 18.1 percent of Argentina’s population currently lives in extreme poverty. Regionally, the highest poverty rates were recorded in the northeast (62.9 percent) and the northwest (57 percent).
In response to INDEC’s findings, the Milei administration reaffirmed its political and economic ideology, which prioritizes fiscal balance and reducing the size of the state over social objectives.
“The people voted for the President knowing that his main goal was to lower inflation through macroeconomic stabilization. And we always said that 2024 would be worse than 2023,” said government spokesman Manuel Adorni, as reported by El Mundo.
“Milei has stated several times that his goal is to make Argentina ‘the world’s freest country,’ a plan that includes the liberalization and deregulation of large sectors of the economy, as well as the privatization of public companies,” the outlet added.
In an attempt to explain what is happening, the conservative newspaper La Nacion noted that the devaluation of the national currency in December led to a substantial price increase, which seriously undermined the population’s real income.
Milei also exacerbated poverty through policies that worsened working conditions and led to the loss of over 100,000 jobs in construction, commerce, and industry. “The poverty figure shatters the government’s illusions,” commented the Argentine outlet Pagina 12.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: INDEC – Pagina 12 – Sputnik
