- Poverty affects more than 52% of the population in Argentina
- The country is plagued by high annual inflation
- Experts declare that all Argentines are impoverished
Poverty affects more than 52% of the population in Argentina
In Argentina, poverty has risen to reach more than 52% of the population in the first six months since Javier Milei, a self-described "anarcho-capitalist", became President.
A report for the first half of 2024 showed that 52.9% of the 47 million impoverished people are poor. 47% of the Argentine population is currently deprived, and nearly one in five is below the poverty line. The poverty rate rose from 41.7% in 2008 to 41.5% in 2010.
In the second half of 2023. Since taking office in December, the Milei government has introduced a drastic austerity program to eliminate the budget deficit and tame chronic inflation.
Subsidies for transport, fuel and energy have been cut, even though thousands of civil servants have already lost their jobs.
The country is plagued by high annual inflation
Monthly inflation in Argentina stood at 4.0% in July, the lowest in 2.5 years, before rising again in August to 4.2%. Annual inflation remains one of the highest in the world at 236.7% in August.
Monthly inflation jumped by 25.5% in December when Milei took office after he devalued the peso by more than 50%.
This move, along with severe budget cuts, depressed purchasing power. In January, the government reported its first monthly budget surplus in almost 12 years.
Experts declare that all Argentines are impoverished
Critics argue that some of Milei's successes have come at the expense of the poor and working class.
GDP fell by 1.7% in the second quarter, and unemployment rose to 7.6%, with women being the worst affected.
"In a country where poverty is measured by income, we have all become poorer," presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said on Thursday, before releasing the INDEC figures, which he predicted would reflect a "harsh reality".
"The best way to fight poverty is to fight inflation", he added.
Economist Marina Dal Poggetto said this approach "marginalises many people" and "creates an increasingly divided society".
One such person is 57-year-old Viviana Quevedo, who lost her maid's job in December and has been unable to find a new one.
She spoke to AFP in Buenos Aires, standing on the pavement holding a poster that read "Looking for a job".
Quevedo said she lost her home because she could no longer pay the rent and was on the verge of ending up on the streets, having spent the last of her money on a hotel for herself and her 13-year-old daughter.
She said she received the equivalent of USD 85 from the government for childcare, which is less than the USD 108 a month needed to be considered below the poverty line.
"The reality that we live in is terrifying; it is terrifying to go hungry, it is terrifying to starve," said Quevedo from behind the face mask he wears to hide his missing teeth. "I have never experienced such a situation in my life," she said.
Based ELTA reports
