Why Argentina’s shock measures may be the best hope for its ailing economy

By PAUL WISEMAN
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The painful economic steps that Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei, announced this week sound draconian: Slashing the currency’s value in half. Reducing aid to provincial governments. Suspending public works. Cutting subsidies for gas and electricity. Raising some taxes. Yet the South American country’s economy is such a basket case — and has been for so long — that many analysts believe that only such radical measures offer a realistic opportunity to rescue the economy. The critical question, economists say, is this: Will the Argentinian people – who gave Milei, a libertarian economist, nearly 56% of the vote in a runoff election last month – continue to back his plan once real economic pain inevitably sets in?