Poverty in Argentina rose to more than 52 percent of the population in the first six months of the presidency of the anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei, according to data released Thursday by the statistical center INDEC.
The report for the first half of 2024 showed that 52.9 percent of the Argentine population, or 15.7 million people, now live in poverty and almost one in five is poor.
This figure increased from 41.7 percent in the second quarter of 2023.
Since taking office in December, Milei’s government has implemented an austerity program aimed at eliminating the budget deficit and fighting chronic inflation.
It cut subsidies for transport, fuel and energy, as thousands of government workers lost their jobs.
Monthly inflation in Argentina fell to 4.0 percent in July, the lowest rate in 2.5 years, but the annual figure of 263.4 percent remains one of the highest in the world.
In December, when Milei took office, monthly inflation jumped 25.5 percent after he devalued the peso by more than 50 percent.
This move, in addition to major budget cuts, choked purchasing power.
In January, the government reported its first monthly budget in nearly 12 years.
But critics say Miley’s few wins have come at the expense of the poor and working class.
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