Milei promises more funds for pensions, health, and education

Argentina will end 2026 with a primary fiscal surplus of 1.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 0.3% of net income after debt repayment, according to the budget bill submitted by President Javier Milei to Congress.

He announced that the bill proposes a real increase of 5% in pension funds, while spending on health care will increase by 17% and education by 8%.

According to a copy of the bill, the government estimated that the exchange rate will end 2026 at 1.423 pesos per dollar, while inflation will slow to 10.1% annually from 24.5% in 2025.

Latin America's third-largest economy will grow 5% in 2026 after expanding 5.4% in 2025, while posting a trade deficit of $5.751 billion, up from a deficit of $2.447 billion at the end of this year, according to the bill.

Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has managed to reduce inflation from over 200% annually to 33% in August. The text includes a fiscal stability rule: if revenues fall or expenses exceed expectations, items must be adjusted to maintain balance.

President Milei presented the 2026 Budget proposal on national television, which establishes fiscal balance as its central focus and expressly prohibits the Treasury from being financed through the Central Bank.

"This would imply monetary issuance and a return to inflationary hell," he warned.

The text includes a fiscal stability rule: if revenues fall or expenses exceed expectations, items must be adjusted to maintain balance.

According to the president, this is the lowest level of national spending relative to GDP in the last 30 years. He anticipated that the surplus will allow the public sector to finance the private sector in large infrastructure and logistics concessions. "For the first time in decades, instead of the private sector financing the public sector, this primary surplus will allow the public sector to finance the private sector," he explained.

In macroeconomic terms, the president asserted that "only by achieving fiscal balance and maintaining it over time would Argentina achieve a growth base of 5% per year." If structural reforms are added, this growth could reach a sustained 7% or 8%.

"Growing at these rates would mean that in 10 years we would resemble high-income countries, in 20 years we would be among the richest countries in the world, and in 30 years we would be on the podium of world powers," he projected.

Milei compared the fact that between 2011 and 2023, Argentina's GDP per capita fell by just over 10%, while in neighboring countries it grew between 15% and 20%. "Fiscal order and a surplus are the difference between being able to dream of a better future or living trapped in a stormy and decadent present."

The 2026 budget proposal plans to close the year with a financial surplus of $226.469 billion. The initiative provides for expenditures of $148.06 billion and resources of $148.29 billion to achieve this result.

The text was submitted by the Chief of Staff's Office following President Javier Milei's nationally televised speech, in which he defended fiscal balance as a non-negotiable goal.