Javier Milei spoke at the celebration of the 100 years of the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and sent a strong economic message about the present and economic future of the country. At the beginning of his speech he was forceful: “Today I come with a very particular message: the recession is over and the country has begun to grow.”
And he immediately added: “I want to thank the Argentines for the immense effort they have made this year. To the wage earners, to the self-employed, to those who have jobs and try to get ahead day by day. To the Argentines who had been harmed by the system established by politicians. That interval of pain is over, the recession is over, we are emerging from the desert, the country has finally started to grow.”
However, he warned: “This does not mean that we have reached our destination.”
Before beginning his classic review of economic management, with strong criticism of Kirchnerism, the President insisted that “effort is a necessary condiment for progress” and stated: “Argentines old enough remember having lived through better times. But I want to say that from now on we will be a little better. There are already sectors that perceive an incipient improvement. Soon it will be a reality for everyone.”
“The program we proposed in December worked and works, despite the fact that it bothers many. econochantas. We made a shock program that was sustained. We had a recession. Then we said that the economy would rise like a diver's fart and guess what?: the bubbles are beginning to be seen. The economic activity estimators don't care about August or December,” he added.
And he continued: “Given the rapid progress of the economy in September and October, it makes us assume that we have already surpassed the indicators of previous months. We are lowering inflation almost at no cost in light of having made the largest adjustment in the history of humanity, 15 points of GDP. Prestigious universities around the world are dedicating themselves to studying the Argentine case and they speak of a miracle.”
However, the president later explained that, from his point of view, “it is not a miracle”; On the contrary, he stated that it is the result of “sitting down to do your homework, as appropriate, without letting yourself be carried away by any focus group or survey, without prioritizing political and electoral interests, only with the conviction of doing what needs to be done.” but really.” “The economy has rules and these rules cannot be drawn or twisted, we are not gods, we cannot distort reality,” he added. Then, later in the speech, he assured: “I am dedicated to doing that, I don't care what the polls say, they don't matter to me at all.”
In that sense, the President highlighted the work he has carried out since taking office by specifying that the adjustment was made to the public structure of the State. “95% of the adjustment fell on the public sector or perhaps what it means to eliminate public works altogether. Look at the salaries that are growing the least: the public sector salaries. We expelled 33 thousand gnocchi, we also expelled another 3,155 people who were persecuting them from the AFIP”, he noted.
In this regard, Milei maintained that “we need a State that is as small as possible, that effectively fulfills nothing more than its basic functions. We still have 3,200 reforms in our portfolio and that is why we created the Ministry of State Transformation and Deregulation because in Argentina there is plenty of State.”
Regarding macroeconomic indicators, the president celebrated the impact that Donald Trump's victory in the elections in the United States had on Argentina's economic image due to the closeness between the two. “Imagine everything we can achieve if the most powerful country in the world shares our ideas and our north,” he said.
He even said that part of his cabinet is in contact with those who will be part of the Republican's economic team. “The own Donald Trump incorporated Elon Musk into its ranks to replicate the model it is doing Federico SturzeneggerThat is to say, we are exporting the chainsaw model to the world, we are changing the world and we are making a freer world,” he celebrated. In this context, he took the opportunity to thank his entire Cabinet for the work they do every day with him.
On the other hand, the president spoke directly to society “they will have to get culturally accustomed to growth.” “A growing country means that a salary increase means improving purchasing power, not trying to match inflation. It is taking out a mortgage loan and owning it, instead of paying rent for life. It is knowing that if you dedicate yourself and work you will live better than today. The more you work, the better it will be for you, but you can have a full-time job to get by, without the need to have two or three jobs, or assistance from the State,” he explained.
At the closing of his speech, he deepened that “the greatest damage that the present State model had done was to instill fear in Argentines.” “It forced us to live in an eternal and miserable present, it forced us to live on the defensive instead of the offensive because who can make an economic decision, without knowing how much things will be worth tomorrow,” he said.
