President Javier Milei clawed back some ground with Argentine voters as adversaries lost favour and inflation slowed, although his popularity remains near the lowest levels of his term.
Milei’s approval rating rose to roughly 40 percent, up four points from April, according to LatAm Pulse, a survey conducted by AtlasIntel for Bloomberg News and published Thursday. Disapproval fell nearly five points to 58 percent, down from its peak of 63 percent a month ago.
The improvement came after monthly inflation slowed in April for the first time in nearly a year. The share of voters who ranked rising prices among their biggest concerns eased as well, falling to 31 percent from 36 percent. Corruption and unemployment remain atop the list of worries, the poll showed.
Milei ranks as the fifth-most popular politician in Argentina, according to a separate gauge that measures positive and negative images. He trails a trio of leftist opponents – socialist lawmaker Myriam Bregman, Buenos Aires Province Governor Axel Kicillof and former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner – as well as Senator Patricia Bullrich, a former member of his cabinet. Milei held the top spot for months earlier in his Presidency.
Conservative former president Mauricio Macri took a hit in the survey: positive views fell four points to 22 percent, while the share that regard him negatively rose to 69 percent, findings that cast doubt on his ability to pursue a potential comeback bid in the 2027 election.
The positive ratings of Fernández de Kirchner and Kicillof, another potential challenger, also fell over the last month as talk about next year’s race – and the possible return of their Peronist political coalition – has picked up.
Milei received additional good news this month, when the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Board approved a long-awaited US$1-billion disbursement for Argentina that boosted the Central Bank’s reserves to their highest since 2019. Economic activity also exceeded expectations in March following a sharp slump.
Still, he’s facing challenges. His Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni remains ensnared in a court investigation into allegations of illicit enrichment. Allies of senior aide Santiago Caputo and Milei’s sister Karina, meanwhile, have traded attacks on social media, suggesting renewed discord inside the administration.
* AtlasIntel surveyed 4,613 people in Argentina between May 21 to 25. The online poll has a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus one percentage point.
by Manuela Tobias, Bloomberg
