An election win boosts Javier Milei’s reform project
Lower inflation brings popularity. Popularity brings power, which helps with lowering inflation
In most of the world mid-term elections for half of the seats in a city hall would be ignored by presidents and markets alike. Not so in Argentina. Javier Milei, the libertarian president, made his spokesperson his party’s leading candidate in elections held on May 18th in Buenos Aires. He cast the capital’s ballot as a referendum on his government. His party won 30% of the vote, compared with 27% for the leftist Peronists and 16% for the centre-right PRO, the party of a former president, Mauricio Macri. Argentine shares soared in response and sovereign bonds rose. Having beaten Mr Macri in his stronghold, Mr Milei intends to sideline him entirely, trying to subsume the PRO ahead of national mid-terms in October.
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This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “Confidence loop ”
From the May 24th 2025 edition
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