The architect behind President Javier Milei’s ambitious pro-business reform campaign said it has just begun and will soon New changes will be announced of policiesregardless of social unrest and workers’ protests triggered by zeal for government reform.
Federico Sturzenegger, one of Argentina’s most cited economists and Milei’s key advisor on deregulation of the economy, said that Next week the government will send another bill to Congress to eliminate 160 “absurd” rules. that hinder the activity.
Together with the decree of necessity and urgency and the other wide-ranging bill that the Milei administration presented in its first three weeks in power, they seek to radically transform the country, he said.
“Reforms have a dimension that goes beyond the reforms themselves: it’s like a review of the economic power structure in Argentina“Sturzenegger said in an interview with the Casa Rosada, adding that The measures represent only 40% of the changes Milei wants to achieve. “I don’t remember anyone with such strength.”
Milei has wasted no time since taking office on December 10 with a popular mandate to control inflation that tops 160% and revive a stagnant economy. The 300-measure decree issued last week, which aims to significantly reduce state intervention in Argentina’s economy, was followed on Wednesday by a general bill sent to Congress with another 664 articles.
The new legislation complies with the strategy of shock therapy of Milei, which also included a monetary devaluation of 54% it’s important spending cuts achieve a balanced budget in 2024, with the aim of reversing the country’s economic crisis.
The decree, which will go into effect this Fridayhas met resistance from the opposition, with some lawmakers arguing it goes beyond the President’s power.
Sturzenegger, 57, says such criticism is a smoke screen to avoid discussing the content of the reformswhile adding that the decree is a “all or nothing” bet. because Congress can reject it but not change it.
Milei says none of his immediate predecessors have seen a bill rejected by Congress, but that the political battle will take place early next year.
While the government’s ambitious changes have already sparked some protests in Buenos Aires and other cities, Milei’s big test will come on January 24, when the CGT will stage a nationwide strike to protest the measures.
The general strike will be the one that will take place within days of the inauguration of a new president in the last 40 years of democracy, a sign of the hostility that Milei can expect from the CGT, a group traditionally linked to the Peronist opposition.
Furthermore, several requests have been made to the courts to legally block the decree once it enters into force.
Milei’s reforms
Sturzenegger remains unmoved and hopes lawmakers will pass the bill “somehow” before March and that the legislation is critical to achieving fiscal balance next year. He is confident that, eventually, “pro-employment” reforms will be implemented. it will facilitate business and stimulate activity in various sectors, from satellite rental contracts.
“Will anyone argue to the justice system that there can be no satellite Internet, that there can be no competition? “It’s a little ridiculous,” Sturzenegger says, referring to recently lifted restrictions for Elon Musk’s Starlink to operate in Argentina.
Deregulation czar
For Sturzenegger, who has a doctorate in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, this is the second high-profile attempt to solve Argentina’s perennial crisis, after leading the Central Bank from 2015 to 2018 under the government of Mauricio Macri.
Before joining the ranks of Milei, the economist has spent the last 18 months designing deregulatory reforms for Patricia Bullrich, who lost in the first round in October, but later joined his government as Security Minister.
Sturzenegger then merged his reform plans with those of Energy Minister Eduardo Chirillo, who worked on Milei’s campaign.
At a deeper level, Sturzenegger argues that radical and rapid reforms go beyond simply changing the fine print, but rather aim to challenge the institution politic, echoing Milei’s electoral promises.
“The only way to achieve change is to dismantle that structure, and to disarm it, in a certain sense, you have to drain your resourcesbecause that’s what they use to hold the status quo“Sturzenegger said.
NEITHER
Source: Clarin
