President Javier Milei will break with normal tradition and deliver the annual speech outlining his government’s budget bill personally before Congress.
Milei, 53, will head the presentation of the 2025 Budget bill – the first of his La Libertad Avanza administration – at the Legislative Assembly this Sunday.
He is expected to outline key benchmarks for his government moving forward, which will include projections on inflation and economic growth.
“On Sunday at 9pm, the President will announce the 2025 Budget at Congress,” confirmed Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni at his daily press conference on Tuesday.
Milei’s last appearance before congress took place on March 1, when he delivered a ‘state of the nation’ speech marking the opening of normal sessions of Congress.
In recent public appearances, the self-described “anarcho capitalist” leader said he has redrawn the budget bill with the key premise of “zero deficit.”
“A set of expenses is suggested, an estimate of income is made, which translates into the primary result, it has the burden of interest, the financial result comes out, which ends up as financing. We won’t use that methodology,” he clarified at a speech to the Council of the Americas.
“Our methodology will be called zero deficit. Argentina will stop taking on new debt. Rolling over debt is not new debt. Looking into the future we would have to see the country risk [rate] plummeting,” he claimed.
The preliminary budget bill is normally presented by Argentina’s economy minister, which at present is Luis Caputo. The change is allowed under the Constitution, sources close to the minister informed Perfil.
Article 26 of Law 24,156 on Financial Administration provides that “the Executive Branch shall present the general budget bill before the Chamber of Deputies,” which legally empowers Milei to take on that task and present the bill in-person.
Milei’s decision to present the bill personally will, nevertheless, create a few extra problems, not least in terms of logistics and the accompanying security operation.
Milei will detail expected income and expenses for 2025, with special focus on the “zero deficit” policy, fiscal adjustment and projections for the exchange rate, inflation and economic growth.
– TIMES/NA
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