Poverty in Argentina rose to more than 52 percent of the population in the first six months of the presidency of self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” Javier Milei, according to data released Thursday by the statistics agency INDEC.
The report for the first half of 2024 shows that 52.9 percent of Argentines, or 15.7 million people, now live in poverty and almost one in five are in need.
This figure was higher than the 41.7 percent in the second half of 2023.
Since taking office in December, Milei’s government has implemented a drastic austerity program aimed at eliminating the budget deficit and curbing chronic inflation.
The country has cut subsidies for transport, fuel and energy, even as thousands of civil servants have lost their jobs.
Argentina’s monthly inflation fell to 4.0 percent in July, the lowest in 2.5 years, but the annual rate of 263.4 percent remains one of the highest in the world.
In December, when Milei took office, monthly inflation rose 25.5 percent after he devalued the peso by more than 50 percent.
This move, in addition to severe cuts, strangled purchasing power.
In January, the government reported its first monthly budget surplus in almost twelve years.
But critics say Milei’s few victories have come at the expense of the poor and working class.
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