MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei's govt hit by string of setbacks

Milei foresees massive electoral fraud next month in the province of Buenos Aires

Argentine President Javier Milei has been suffering a series of setbacks this week after the Lower House overturned his veto of the Disability Emergency Law, followed by a slumping trade surplus projection and a sharp drop in wholesale transactions amid mounting corruption scandals.

Economically, the country's trade surplus projections for 2025 have been significantly reduced, from an initial estimate of around US$18.9 billion to about $6 billion due to imports outpacing exports.

According to the consulting firm ACM, “looking ahead, we maintain that imports will expand by an additional US$13 billion to US$16 billion in 2025 compared to last year,” while LCG warned that “due to lower daily agricultural sales, we can anticipate that foreign sales will decline and there will be greater pressure on foreign trade and the exchange rate.” Hence, a collapse of expectations for dollar inflows.

The economic outlook is further complicated by a sustained decline in consumer spending. The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) found that wholesale sales fell 8.4% year-on-year in June, while supermarket sales saw a slight increase of 0.2% month-over-month.

Politically, less than a month ahead of the Sept. 7 midterm elections in the province of Buenos Aires - the country's largest and most populous district - Milei went all out in a speech at the Council of the Americas, where he told business leaders that his political opponents were trying to “break the national State” and a “massive” electoral fraud was coming up.

He also claimed that his administration has lifted 12 million people out of poverty, a statement that has been met with skepticism. The speech underscored a strategy of “permanent confrontation” and highlighted the government's struggles to build legislative consensus.

“Before, they approved our proposals because they thought they would go wrong,” but now Kirchnerism is seeking to reinstate the economic crisis after “we cruel liberals lifted 12 million people out of poverty,” he argued. Additionally, he mentioned that next month's elections represented a chance to put an end to Kirchnerism “once and for all,” which would be the opposition's “final nail in the coffin.”

“September 7 is an important date because Kirchnerism is going to throw everything at it. They know their time is running out,” Milei insisted.

(See also: Milei and his sister splashed by disability aid scandal )