Three years into Javier Milei’s presidency, a large part of the Argentine economy still hasn’t recovered the levels of activity and consumption it had before he reached the Casa Rosada, and that seems to be worrying the economic team.

Even so, the government has repeatedly dismissed the possibility of the Central Bank printing money to stimulate demand — even to rescue the thousands of households in default — something known pejoratively in Argentine political culture as a plan platita, or “little cash plan.”

“I’m not going to hand over my reputation and my historic legacy by pulling the same outrageous stunt Kirchnerism did,” Milei said in a television interview in early August about the possibility of a plan platita, reaffirming that he will maintain fiscal and monetary discipline to deliver on his promise of zero inflation.

Still, concern over the drop in formal employment and the real economy persists, driven by weak demand.

This week, official data from SIPA (the Integrated Argentine Pension System) showed that May was the thirteenth straight month of decline in registered private-sector employment.

That month, 6,971 workers lost their jobs. Compared with November 2023 — that is, with what the previous administration left behind — there are 337,365 fewer registered wage earners.

Commerce and industry were the hardest-hit sectors. They are the two biggest employers in Argentina, accounting for 30.1% of total employment, according to official INDEC data.

That concern has........

© Buenos Aires Herald