Javier Milei's tenure as the 59th president of Argentina began with his inauguration on 10 December 2023. Milei, a member of La Libertad Avanza, took office after defeating then-economy minister Sergio Massa in the 2023 general election. His administration began during deep economic turmoil as part of the ongoing Argentine monetary crisis, with annual inflation surpassing 100% in the months prior to his inauguration.
Described along right-wing populist and right-wing libertarian lines, Milei pursued deregulation policies to alleviate the national economic crisis. He eliminated several government ministries within his first months in office, achieving a budget surplus for the first time since 2011. On foreign affairs, the Milei administration distanced itself from governments such as those of Venezuela and Cuba, which it calls communist, favouring closer ties with Israel amid the Gaza war and Ukraine during the Russo–Ukrainian War.
2023 presidential campaign and election
On 11 April 2022, Milei announced his candidacy in an interview with Clarín. Milei chose Victoria Villarruel, a National Deputy for the conservative Democratic Party, as his running mate. Villarruel, a veteran's advocate and signer of the Madrid Charter, has been accused of historical revisionism in regards to the Dirty War in the form of Argentine state terrorism denial.
Over the election, Milei steadily rose in the polls for his right-wing libertarian and right-wing populist views, as inflation increased above 100%. During the August 2023 PASO primary, Milei emerged as the leading candidate with 29.86% of the vote. Milei then advanced to the first round where he achieved second place on 22 October against Sergio Massa, the Minister of Economy who represented the incumbent Union for the Homeland coalition, with both advancing to a second round on 19 November.
For the runoff, Milei was endorsed by former president Mauricio Macri and third-place candidate Patricia Bullrich, both members of the Juntos por el Cambio coalition. Milei remained technically tied in polls with Massa but emerged the victor on 19 November by 10 points in a rejection of the establishment Peronists. His victory was likened to that of Donald Trump in the United States and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.
Transition period and inauguration
Soon after his victory, Milei began selecting the members of his cabinet. On 21 November 2023, he met with outgoing president Alberto Fernández at the Quinta de Olivos, beginning his presidential transition. On 25 November, he and Vice President-elect Villaruel received a rosary from Pope Francis. At the same time, he had phone calls with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, and IMF director Kristalina Georgieva. Later that month, he travelled to the United States (together with members of his prospective cabinet, Nicolás Posse and Luis Caputo), where he visited the tomb of rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and met with former US president Bill Clinton and former senator Chris Dodd. John Kirby, spokesperson for the United States National Security Council, stated that from the White House they "wanted to continue seeking ways to cooperate with Argentina".
On November 29, Javier Milei and Victoria Villarruel were proclaimed president and vice president by the National Congress, while the electoral results of November 19 were formally ratified.
Milei was inaugurated on 10 December 2023. He delivered a speech to the Argentine nation, warning of an economic shock, which has been described as shock therapy in economic terms, to be used as a means to fix Argentina's economic woes, with inflation rising to 200 percent. Following the inauguration, Milei saw his popularity increase in public opinion. After the first governmental and economic reforms taken by the president and his ministers, 53% of the Argentine people had a very good or good image of the new head of state according to a popularity poll made by Aresco on 15 December.
La Libertad Avanza sought to become an official party in preparation of the midterm 2025 Argentine legislative election. In October 2025, President Javier Milei's party, La Libertad Avanza], won a landslide victory in midterm elections, making it easier for Milei to push ahead with his programme of radical spending cuts and free-market reforms.
Cabinet
Milei's cabinet took office on 10 December 2023. After the remaining officials from Alberto Fernández's presidency resigned, Milei began his nominations for those responsible for the existing portfolios. His cabinet mostly included ministers from La Libertad Avanza and Juntos por el Cambio.
Upon taking office as president, Milei signed various decrees related to his cabinet members and ministries. He successively named Nicolás Posse as Cabinet Chief, Guillermo Francos as Minister of the Interior, Diana Mondino as Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, Luis Petri as Minister of Defence, Luis Caputo as Minister of the Economy, Patricia Bullrich as Minister of Security and Mario Russo as Minister of Health. On 10 December, with his 8th decree (the first as president of Argentina), he modified the law and reduced the existing 19 government ministries to nine. President Milei then nominated Mariano Cúneo Libarona as Minister of Justice. As planned in his presidential campaign, he created the ministries of Infrastructure and Human Capital and appointed Guillermo Ferraro and Sandra Pettovello to lead them. In order to name his sister Karina Milei as General Secretariat of the Presidency, he removed the impediment that former president Mauricio Macri signed that would have dictated to designate relatives in the state.
Dissolved ministries (dissolved on 10 December 2023) Ministry of Transport (merged into Ministry of Infrastructure, now part of Ministry of Economy as of 9 February 2024) Ministry of Social Development (merged into Ministry of Human Capital) Ministry of Education (merged into Ministry of Human Capital) Ministry of Public Works (merged into Ministry of Infrastructure, now part of Ministry of Economy as of 9 February 2024) Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity (merged into Ministry of Human Capital) Ministry of Culture (merged into Ministry of Human Capital) Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (merged into Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers) Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (merged into Ministry of Human Capital) Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development (merged into Ministry of Interior) Ministry of Tourism and Sports (merged into Ministry of Interior) Ministry of Territorial Development and Habitat (merged into Ministry of Infrastructure, now part of Ministry of Economy as of February 9, 2024)
Current ministries PortfolioMinisterPartyCoalitionStartEndCabinet ChiefNicolás PosseIndependentLLAGuillermo FrancosIndependentLLAManuel AdorniLLALLAMinister of the InteriorGuillermo FrancosIndependentLLALisandro CatalánLLALLADiego SantilliPROJxCMinister of Foreign Affairs, InternationalTrade and WorshipDiana MondinoIndependentLLAGerardo WertheinIndependentLLAPablo QuirnoLLALLAMinister of Deregulation and State TransformationFederico SturzeneggerPRO/LLAJxC/LLAMinister of DefenceLuis PetriUCR/LLAJxC/LLACarlos PrestiMinister of EconomyLuis CaputoPRO/LLAJxC/LLAMinister of InfrastructureGuillermo FerraroIndependentLLA (ministry established) (ministry dissolved)Minister of JusticeMariano Cúneo LibaronaIndependentMinister of SecurityPatricia BullrichPRO/LLAJxC/LLAAlejandra MonteolivaIndependentMinister of HealthMario RussoIndependent27 September 2024Independent27 September 2024Minister of Human CapitalSandra PettovelloUCEDE/LLALLA (ministry established)
Domestic policy Overview
On 21 December 2023, Milei announced a large decree that became known in the media as "Megadecreto", a plan to modify a wide variety of economic regulations regarding the Argentine economy. In a statement saying that he aims to lay "the foundations for the reconstruction of the Argentine economy and restore freedom and autonomy to individuals, removing the State from their shoulders", more than 300 regulations were set aside, including significant rent and labour market regulations. The decree is subject to approval by Congress, which was called for an extraordinary session to be held in the first months of 2024.
The Milei government said it would not renew contracts for the more than 5000 public sector employees who were hired in 2023, while contracts for other government employees hired prior to 2023 will be reviewed. "The 2023 cutoff is apparently meant to target the practice of outgoing presidents padding the payrolls in their final year". Annual inflation stood at 211% when Milei took office in December 2023, and reached a peak of 289% in April 2024 before falling below 200% for the first time in a year in October 2024. Monthly inflation has come down from 25% in December 2023 to 8.8% in April 2024, more than expected, further dropping to 2.4% by February 2025, the lowest it had been in four years.
In December 2023, Milei announced a repeal of Argentina's rent-control laws, which had been in place to stabilize the rent market but had resulted in a 45% drop in housing supply. Since then, Buenos Aires has experienced a 170% rise in housing availability and a 40% drop in real estate prices. The mortgage market has also seen a surge since deregulation, with the number of mortgages signed nationwide tripling between 2023 and 2024.
On 10 January 2024, the IMF agreed to restart payouts to the Argentine treasury. Trade unions in Argentina have opposed Milei's policies, and the CGT called for a general strike on 24 January 2024. Milei has aimed to build up the central bank's foreign-exchange reserves by raising import and export taxes.
In an interview published on 31 March 2024, Milei emphasised his continued plans to dollarise the economy, but saying that the plans are delayed to after the 2025 Argentine legislative election.
During the first six months of his presidency, poverty rates increased from 41.7% to 52.9%, briefly peaking at 57.4% at the end of January 2024. By the end of 2024 the government estimated that poverty would be near 38.9%, below the 41.4% left by the government of Alberto Fernández. Conversely, the poverty rate in the third quarter was estimated at 49.9% by the Catholic University of Argentina, and 36.8% by the Torcuato Di Tella University. By the second semester of 2024, poverty levels fell sharply to 38%, the lowest since 2022.
After the rejection of various articles of the Bases bill by deputies answering to governors, Milei began to take a series of measures that defunded the provinces in retaliation. In February, he announced the elimination of the Compensatory Fund for Public Transport, through which public transport in the country's interior provinces had been subsidized by transfers from the National State. He also did not continue the National Teacher Incentive Fund (FONID), a fund financed by the Nation since 1998 that provided resources to the provinces to improve teachers' salaries. Among other measures, he requested the resignation of Secretary of Mining Flavia Royon, a person linked to the Governor of Salta, Gustavo Sáenz, and of the director of the ANSES, Osvaldo Giordano, linked to the Governor of Córdoba, Martín Llaryora.
In November 2024, the government created the Regime for the Extinction of Reciprocal Obligations, which seeks to resolve financial conflicts with the provinces through the renegotiation of debts between the National State and the provinces and the total or partial extinguishing of obligations. Just two months after its creation, Catamarca, Tucumán, La Pampa, Chaco, and Chubut had joined the regime.