Economy Minister Luis Caputo has boldly declared that Argentina will reach “zero inflation” during President Javier Milei’s government.
Speaking on Sunday, Caputo argued that the key difference between the Milei administration and its predecessors in office is that the current government is “addressing the root cause” of Argentina’s problems, namely that “the country was spending more than it collected in revenue.”
“There were politicians who tried to convince the country that the problems lay elsewhere, such as debt, the dollar or inflation, and they sought solutions such as defaulting on the debt, imposing currency controls or introducing price controls. But they continued running deficits, so the problems were never solved,” he said.
During an interview with Crónica TV, Caputo argued that the severity of the economic situation inherited by the government has been underestimated, pointing to “daily inflation of 1.5 percent, poverty approaching 57 percent and shortages.”
“The course we are on is the right one. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, but it is the correct path,” Caputo said.
Official poverty figures fell sharply in the second half of 2025 after peaking early in Milei’s Presidency, although critics argue the government’s fiscal adjustment has continued to weigh heavily on household incomes.
Caputo noted that when the Milei administration took office, “the first thing we did was eliminate excess spending overnight, which was running at 30 percent above revenues, and that surprised the world.”
He said the government had combined deep spending cuts with fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies that, in his view, had prevented Argentina from falling into a “terminal crisis.”
Caputo claimed that previous governments, faced with situations “far less serious than the one we inherited,” had accepted economic crises and violated private property rights through measures such as “the confiscation of bank deposits and pensions,” which, he argued, explains why many Argentines still keep their US dollars outside the formal financial system.
“The most important thing we did was to acknowledge the real problem, solve it through an economic programme that avoided a crisis, and do so without violating private property rights,” he added.
According to Caputo, Argentina faces “many years of improvement ahead.” He credited the government’s economic programme and Milei’s backing for its implementation, saying it “would have been impossible without a president like him.”
“When I look at what is driving the economy, net exports will continue to grow – it’s not just agriculture and energy. The knowledge economy is at record levels, SME exports are growing, and the stability we’ve achieved is creating opportunities for many businesses,” argued Caputo.
The minister reiterated that the government’s goal is “to reduce the number of people who struggle to make ends meet,” adding that “poverty has now fallen by half and extreme poverty by two-thirds.”
Caputo saved his strongest prediction yet on inflation, boldly proclaiming that “we’re going to reach zero inflation.”
Annual inflation has fallen sharply since Milei took office, although monthly price increases remain above two percent and economists differ over how quickly inflation can be eliminated.
Consumer prices rose 1.9 percent in June and annual inflation currently stands at 33.5 percent.
While the government’s fiscal adjustment has been widely credited with helping curb inflation, economists caution that reducing monthly price hikes to zero is likely to prove considerably more difficult.
– TIMES/NA
