Argentina’s Milei announces a painful adjustment

(10 Dec 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY ASSOCIATED PRESS Buenos Aires, Argentina - 10 December 2023 1. Argentina President Javier Milei riding an open vehicle next to his sister Karina Milei 2. Supporters 3. Milei riding an open vehicle next to his sister Karina Milei 4. Milei waves next to Vice President Victoria Villarruel 5. Milei walks down the stairs of the Congress and shakes hands of foreign dignitaries 6. Milei and his sister Karina 7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Javier Milei, Argentine President: “This is the legacy they leave us. A planted inflation of 15,000 percent annually against which we are going to fight tooth and nail to eradicate.“ 8. Various of Milei embracing Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Javier Milei, Argentine President: “The conclusion is that there is no alternative to adjustment and there is no alternative to shock (measures). Naturally, that will have a negative impact on the level of activity, employment, real wages, and the number of poor and indigent. There will be stagflation, it is true, but that it is not something very different from what has happened in the last 12 years.“ 10. Supporters waving flags 11. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Javier Milei, Argentine President: “Businesses will not invest until they see the fiscal adjustment, even if it is recessive. Thirdly, no less important, to achieve gradualism (slow implementation of the adjustment), there needs to be financing and unfortunately, I have to tell you again, there is no money.“ 12. Various of Milei riding an open vehicle next to his sister Karina 13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Javier Milei, Argentine President: “Those who block the street (during protests) violating the rights of their fellow citizens will not receive social assistance. Put in these terms, he who cuts does not get paid (social welfare).“ 14. Various of Milei arriving to Casa Rosada Presidential Palace 15. Supporter shouts UPSOUND (Spanish) “long live Milei“ 16. Supporters STORYLINE: Argentina’s new president Javier Milei on Sunday warned of the country’s critical situation from decades of mistakes in his inauguration speech. In order to avoid hyperinflation and straighten the economy he will take painful adjustment measures, he said. Milei presented figures to lay bare the scope of the nation’s economic crisis and sought to prepare the public for a shock adjustment with drastic public spending cuts. South America’s second largest economy is suffering 143% annual inflation, the currency has plunged and four in 10 Argentines are impoverished. The nation has a yawning fiscal deficit, a trade deficit of $43 billion, plus a daunting $45 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund, with $10.6 billion due to the multilateral and private creditors by April. “There’s no money,” is Milei’s common refrain. He repeated it Sunday to explain why a gradualist approach to the situation, which would require financing, was not an option. But he promised the adjustment would almost entirely affect the state rather than the private sector, and that it represented the first step toward regaining prosperity. Milei rose to fame on television with profanity-laden tirades against what he called the political caste. He parlayed his popularity into a congressional seat and then, just as swiftly, into a presidential run. The overwhelming victory of the self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” in the August primaries sent shock waves through the political landscape and upended the race. AP Video Victor R. Caivano and Pablo Barrera. =========================================================== Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: