Argentina
Milei denied there was a recession and attributed the slowdown in activity to structural changes
The President said July’s decline does not imply a recessionary process and defended the course of his economic program. He also addressed employment, tensions within the ruling coalition and changes at the Quinta de Olivos.
Javier Milei said the Argentine economy is not entering a recession and downplayed the 2.9% decline in activity in July. In an interview with LN+, cited by Todo Noticias, the President said that to speak of a recession, two consecutive quarters of decline must be verified, and he questioned the usefulness of seasonally adjusted indicators in a context of deep transformations.
“What there is is a slowdown in the pace of expansion”, he said, and noted that in an economy undergoing structural changes there are sectors that move forward and others that fall behind. According to his argument, this is a reallocation of resources within the new economic framework.
According to Todo Noticias, Milei stressed that the economy grew 1.7% in the last half-year compared with the previous one, in addition to citing a 6.7% increase in his first year in office and a rise of more than 4% during 2025. He also projected that both this year and next could end with growth of between 2% and 3%.
Crónica added that the President defended the official course by saying the country is at record levels of GDP, GDP per capita, private consumption and exports. That outlet also said Milei highlighted trade opening and deregulation as tools to redirect resources toward more competitive activities.
On employment, Todo Noticias reported that the head of state downplayed the rise in unemployment to 7.9% in the second quarter of 2026, arguing that it does not differ substantially from 2023 levels and remains below the historical average of 9.8%. He also said that 510,000 jobs were created during his administration, although he admitted that a significant share corresponds to the informal sector.
According to that same outlet, Milei also blamed the opposition for caution in hiring and investment, arguing that political uncertainty delays long-term decisions. At the same time, he denied an internal rift in the Government’s political table, described his relationship with the leader of the ruling bloc in the Senate as excellent, and downplayed internal clashes over cuts in Disability by saying the issue will be left to Congress.
In another part of the interview, cited by Todo Noticias, the President explained that the reorganization of staff at the Quinta de Olivos was due to security reasons and said the presidential residence now has a stricter arrangement. He also rejected criticism over the use of food on the grounds and said nearly 300 people work and eat there.
For its part, Crónica said Milei stated that his administration has its financing needs covered through the end of next year and maintained that the market assigns his Government a zero probability of default.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
