Argentina poverty levels have plummeted – but things may not be what they seem

Argentina’s poverty rate dropped markedly in the second half of last year as President Milei’s economic “shock therapy” began to take hold.

The country’s national statistics agency reported that 38 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line, down from 53 per cent in the first half of the year when inflation was in the triple digits.

Javier Milei’s cocktail of sweeping spending cuts, removing price caps, and devaluing the peso has had a positive impact on growth, but a big chunk of his belt-tightening is due to come from cuts to pensions and social programmes.

“There is a big gap between what the statistics say and what you feel on the streets,” economist Tomás Raffo told the AP.

“We suffered a very strong blow where a lot more people went into poverty… but those who were poor before all this have gotten even poorer.”

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