US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent is planning a second trip to Argentina, according to President Javier Milei.
Bessent, 63, heaped praise on Argentina’s leader Thursday as he praised Milei’s “monumental midterm election victory” last weekend. To boot, he called for an “enthusiastic” response by the markets to aid Washington’s ally in the south.
Milei, a staunch supporter of the United States, picked up close to 41 percent of the votes last Sunday, a triumph which empowered him to relaunch his administration and consolidate his political project with several reforms.
The election victory also paved the way for Buenos Aires to receive the US$40 billion which US President Donald Trump promised on condition of Milei’s triumph.
During a visit to South Korea, Bessent said on Thursday on social networks that he had called Milei from there “to congratulate him on La Libertad Avanza's monumental midterm election victory.”
“Following President Trump’s leadership, President Milei's message of economic freedom is reverberating across the Western Hemisphere and leading the way in Latin America,” Bessent stressed.
According to the Treasury chief, “the markets should easily and enthusiastically meet” Argentina’s financing needs in 2026.
Argentina, which last April signed a loan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to the tune of US$20 billion, has maturities totalling US$4 billion in January and US$4.5 billion in June.
The US Treasury has purchased pesos on several occasions to help Milei contain a run on the currency which had been going on for several weeks prior to his electoral triumph.
“I was especially gratified to hear that young people and the poorest segments ... voted overwhelmingly for President Milei. They know that this is Argentina's last chance to break decades of economic mismanagement,” Bessent said.
According to Bessent, “President Trump's policy of Peace through Economic Strength is going to transform Latin America (sic).”
The US president had already congratulated his Argentine colleague after the results for his “wonderful work.”
Bessent will visit Argentina after the government’s victory in the midterm elections, Milei revealed in a subsequent post on X.
“I am pleased to hear that you will be visiting Argentina again soon. We eagerly await your arrival and welcome you with open arms,” posted Milei on his X account in response to a message of praise for the “economic freedom” of the local administration.
This will be Bessent’s second trip to Buenos Aires while in office. The last time he was in this country was April 14 this year, the Monday following the announcement of the programme with the IMF establishing the system of foreign exchange brackets and new goals set.
Back then, the US official stated the decisive support of President Trump for La Libertad Avanza’s policies and said that Argentina should “break away” from the currency swap with China.
In the run-up to the election, the markets considered the floating scheme between maximum and minimum limits as finished but, with the ruling party’s good results in the midterm polls, the investors renewed their short-term confidence in financial stability. Wall Street banks agreed on the need to relax the exchange rate and, in the medium term, for the Central Bank to begin to accumulate reserves.
The last three sessions had no direct intervention by the US Treasury in the foreign exchange market and some extra backing for the already active US$20-billion currency swap is being negotiated with banks which might have private funding.
In the financial sector in Buenos Aires there were suspicions of closings of financial positions by Trump’s government, and different analyses claimed that the Central Bank issued a bond at an unknown rate to place its pesos purchased in the last few sessions prior to the elections to the tune of approximately US$2 billion.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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