More than three million Argentinians have been pushed into poverty this year, as a result of sweeping cuts to public spending.
President Javier Milei has slashed public spending since coming to power in December 2023, as he seeks to curb runaway inflation.
The far-right libertarian has frozen pensions, reduced aid to soup kitchens, cut welfare programmes and stopped all public works projects.
His government has fired tens of thousands of public employees and cut energy and transportation subsidies.
As a result, new data shows that the country’s poverty rate has soared to almost 53 percent in the first six months of his presidency.
Despite the economic pain, markets and investors have welcomed Milei’s tough economic policies.
Monthly inflation has decreased from about 26 percent in December to about 4 percent in June, where it has remained.
However, annual inflation remains one of the highest in the world, exceeding 230 percent.
Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, questioned whether the government’s economic policies will work.
“It is dangerous territory. The question is, will this belt-tightening have any benefit?” he told The Guardian.
“What comes next? Can he actually control public sector spending? Can he shore up the currency? Without doing that, you’ve just created poverty.”
Milei’s popularity with the public appears to have taken a big hit, with a survey published on Monday showing a drop of almost 15 percent in September, the steepest fall during his nine-month administration.
Recent polls have found that worries about inflation have been overtaken by fears of job loss and poverty.
Milei’s presidential spokesperson blamed previous left-wing governments for the economic pain many are now feeling.
“They left us on the brink of being a country with essentially all of its inhabitants poor,” said Manuel Adorni.
“Any level of poverty is horrendous. We are doing everything, everything so that this situation changes.”
