Javier Milei

What it is

Javier Gerardo Milei (born October 22, 1970, Palermo, Buenos Aires) is Argentina's 57th and current president, inaugurated December 10, 2023. He is the first self-described anarcho-capitalist to lead a major Latin American government. His platform called for abolishing Argentina's central bank, radical deregulation, and a clean break from the entrenched political class he brands the "casta." Milei won Argentina's 2023 presidential election first round with 30% of the vote before taking the November 19 runoff against Peronist economy minister Sergio Massa by roughly 11 percentage points. La Libertad Avanza is his party; Victoria Villarruel is vice president.

History

Milei studied economics at the University of Belgrano and spent 15 years as chief economist at Corporación América, Eduardo Eurnekian's airport and logistics conglomerate, before becoming Argentina's most-cited television economist by 2018. He won a seat in Argentina's Chamber of Deputies for Buenos Aires in 2021, the first legislator from La Libertad Avanza.

In August 2023, he won Argentina's open primary (PASO) with 30% and took the November 19 runoff by 11 points. Within days of his December 10, 2023 inauguration his administration issued Decree 70/2023, the "megadecreto," enacting roughly 300 deregulation measures by executive fiat, including abolition of Argentina's rent-control law. Argentina's Congress passed his Ley de Bases omnibus reform package on June 27, 2024, providing a statutory foundation for large-investment incentives, labor reforms, and a privatization framework.

Current state (as of July 2026)

Milei's central economic achievement is a steep disinflation. Argentina entered his term with annual inflation at 211%; it peaked at roughly 289% in April 2024, then fell to 31% by early 2026. Argentina's national statistics agency INDEC reported monthly inflation of 2.1% in May 2026 (see アルゼンチンの5月インフレ率、8カ月ぶりの低水準となる2.1%に低下), approaching the administration's sub-2% goal. Argentina ran a budget surplus in 2024 for the first time in 14 years. Argentine poverty fell from a peak of 52.9% in the first half of 2024 to around 36% by late 2025.

In April 2025, the IMF approved a 48-month, US$20 billion program (Argentina's 23rd since 1958), with US$12 billion disbursed upfront. The administration lifted the "cepo cambiario" currency controls on April 14, 2025; a crawling-band exchange regime took effect January 2, 2026, with the peso's ceiling rising 1% per month. In June 2026 the peso pressed against that ceiling while Argentina's central bank (BCRA) bought record volumes of dollars (see アルゼンチン・ペソ、中央銀行が記録的なドル買いを続ける中バンド上限に接近). Argentina's RIGI large-investment regime has cleared 18-plus projects totaling over US$22.5 billion, anchored by YPF's US$25 billion Vaca Muerta energy development (see Milei's RIGI clears mega energy bets: YPF's US$25bn project, San Matías pipeline).

La Libertad Avanza won Argentina's October 2025 midterms with 41% of the vote, ending Peronism's grip on Argentina's largest congressional bloc for the first time since 1989. In June 2026, cabinet chief Manuel Adorni resigned under a federal illicit-enrichment investigation (see Milei's cabinet chief admits hiding ~US$500k, contradicting his sworn testimony); Milei replaced him with Diego Santilli, a seasoned Macri-wing PRO politician (see ミレイ、スキャンダルで辞任のアドルニの後任に政界ベテランのサンティリを閣僚長に指名).

Relationships

Economy Minister Luis Caputo is the chief architect of the fiscal adjustment and manages Argentina's IMF relationship. Milei has cultivated close ties with US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visiting Israel three times since taking office.

Beijing is an active tension. Milei renewed Argentina's US$5 billion yuan swap line with China's central bank despite US pressure to sever it. Argentina's Mercosur relationships are strained by Milei's parallel bilateral trade diplomacy with Washington, a friction that surfaced at the June 2026 Mercosur summit in Asunción. A federal criminal complaint alleges Milei promoted the $LIBRA memecoin to his presidential social media followers in February 2025 while insiders sold into the retail buy; Argentine federal police forensics found the token's supply concentrated in one address, and prosecutors are pressing for a judicial summons (see 新たな法科学証拠がLIBRA$事件を再燃させる、監視団体が判事にミレイ召喚を求める).

What to watch

• Whether Argentina's monthly inflation falls below 2% and the crawling-band peso holds without a forced devaluation, the central tension in the IMF program.
• The $LIBRA criminal case: a formal judicial summons for Milei would be a political escalation with direct implications for Argentina's 2027 presidential cycle.
• Congressional approval of Argentina's 2026 national budget, proposed glacier-mining deregulation, and labor, tax, and criminal code reform packages.
• Whether Argentina's trade diplomacy with Washington reaches a formal bilateral agreement and how that interacts with its Mercosur commitments.