4 de septiembre de 2026
1. Amid a busy week, Milei reaffirmed the government’s economic course in forums and conferences
During the first week of September, President Javier Milei maintained a busy schedule of domestic governance, liberalism forums, international engagements, and meetings with the private sector, against the backdrop of the run-up to the election. On Tuesday, the president led a Cabinet meeting at the Casa Rosada in the morning and, hours later, participated in the Political Table of La Libertad Avanza, a forum in which he does not usually participate in, designed to outline the ruling party’s legislative and electoral strategy. On Wednesday, he delivered the closing remarks at the forum “Winds of Change: Freedom Advances in Argentina and the Americas,” organized by the Fundación Libertad y Progreso in conjunction with the Archbridge Institute and the Reason Foundation at the Sheraton Hotel in Buenos Aires. There, he reaffirmed his economic agenda with the statement “we will not stop until we defeat inflation” and rejected calls to ease monetary and fiscal policy. On Thursday, he traveled to Santiago, Chile, where he participated in the 5th Meeting of the Madrid Forum (Disenso Foundation), held a meeting with the subsecretary of State for Public Diplomacy of the United States, Sarah Rogers, and had a bilateral meeting at La Moneda Palace with his Chilean counterpart, José Antonio Kast. Today, the president is wrapping up the week in Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, where he will deliver the closing discourse to executives, economists, and business leaders at the 47th Annual Convention of the Argentine Institute of Finance (IAEF), where he is expected to reaffirm the government’s economic and fiscal policy. Luis Caputo and Federico Sturzenegger also attended the event.
2. Luis Caputo attended the G20 Finance Meeting and received support from Bessent and the IMF
Economy Minister Luis Caputo attended the G20 Finance Ministers’ Meeting held in Asheville, North Carolina. At the summit, he was invited as the keynote speaker for the session on global growth, where he presented the economic program of Javier Milei’s administration. He also held meetings with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva; and World Bank President Ajay Banga. In his remarks, Caputo maintained that Argentina has become a “leading case”, a characterization he said Bessent himself shares. He argued that while several countries acknowledge their deficit problems, they do not dare to undertake an adjustment of comparable magnitude, and he emphasized that in Argentina’s case, fiscal correction has gone hand in hand with growth. He added that neither the Treasury nor the IMF raised any concerns about inflation, the deficit, or loan delinquencies, and that both are optimistic about the country’s economic trajectory. Finally, Caputo expressed confidence ahead of the upcoming review of the agreement with the IMF: he noted that tax revenue has improved over the past two months and reaffirmed that the country will meet its targets.
3. Increase in the Minimum, Living, and Adjustable Wage: the government establishes a new adjustment schedule
The Government officially adopted a new adjustment schedule for the Minimum, Living, and Adjustable Wage (SMVyM) through Resolution 4/2026 of the Secretariat of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, under the Ministry of Human Capital, published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday, September 1. Starting in September 2026, the minimum formal income will be $383,800, and the new schedule will include monthly adjustments through April 2027. The plan calls for phased increases, beginning with $391,200 in October, $398,800 in November, and $406,400 in December 2026, followed by $414,200 in January, $422,000 in February, $429,600 in March, and $437,000 in April 2027. This schedule replaces the one established in December 2025 (Resolution 9/2025), which had started at a base amount of $334,800 and reached $376,600 in August of this year. The adjustment was decided unilaterally after the August 28 meeting between the Ministry of Labor and the labor federations, the CGT and the two CTAs, ended without an agreement. These amounts apply to monthly and daily wage earners covered by the Employment Contract Law and the National Public Administration. The SMVyM also serves as a benchmark for the unemployment benefits paid by Anses. The regulations stipulate that this benefit is equal to 75% of the highest pay received over the past six months and that, under no circumstances, may it be less than 50% of the current Minimum Living Wage or more than 100%, meaning it is tied to each new adjustment.
Clarín: Nuevo salario mínimo: de $383.800 a $437.000, los 8 montos que regirán hasta abril de 2027
4. In a national address, Milei announced the construction of a naval base in Tierra del Fuego and a package of measures regarding the Malvinas Islands
President Javier Milei announced measures related to the sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands. Among these measures, he will sign an Emergency Decree to increase the resources of the Ministry of Defense and build an integrated naval base in Tierra del Fuego, he will also submit a bill to impose harsher penalties for operations on the islands, in response to the exploitation operations that will be carried out with British authorization on Argentine soil. This refers to the Sea Lion project, an oil exploration operation led by the companies Navita Petroleum and Rockhopper Exploration, which Argentina considered illegitimate. To combat such initiatives, the president issued an Emergency Decree to expand the Ministry of Defense’s resources in order to move forward with the construction of an Integrated Naval Base in Tierra del Fuego and increase telecommunications capabilities. He also announced that he will submit a draft National Sovereignty Defense Act to amend Law 26,659, which prohibits the exploitation of hydrocarbons on the Argentine continental shelf without government authorization. He will also issue a regulatory decree to incorporate sworn statements into hydrocarbon-related procedures and the RIGI to ensure compliance with that law, thereby preventing activities by those who are exploiting resources in the islands without recognizing Argentine sovereignty. The bill also creates a National Security Council coordinated among the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, the Intelligence Agency, and the Ministry of Economy to define national security policy and establish a framework for the protection of the nation’s critically important, aerospace, and maritime infrastructure.
La Nación: El discurso completo de Javier Milei sobre Malvinas en cadena nacional
5. The Argentine Industrial Union marked Industry Day with strong criticism of the government
This Wednesday, the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) marked Industry Day at the Laboratorio Elea plant in Malvinas Argentinas, in front of some 200 business leaders. The event was marked by “empty chairs,” as the national government sent only second-tier officials, something that industry leaders interpreted as a sign of mounting tension with the Casa Rosada. UIA President Martín Rappallini acknowledged progress in macroeconomic stabilization but warned that “the economy cannot be measured solely by inflation trends; we have to look at economic activity.” He also presented a “seven-bridge” plan to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): rescheduling bank and tax debts, suspending seizures for 180 days, expediting the refund of tax overpayments, and moving forward with a “Federal Fiscal and Industrial Pact” to reduce the tax burden, which stands at 56% in the formal sector. The event was marked by criticism of the government. Rappallini called for “putting aside the disparagement and attacks against those who produce,” in response to official accusations that labeled business leaders as “privileged,” and emphasized that respect is part of democratic coexistence. He questioned trade liberalization and the influx of imports, calling for a “level playing field” in light of the “Argentine cost of doing business,” for stricter controls against smuggling, under-invoicing, and dumping, and for extending the benefits of the RIGI to the entire domestic industry. He also objected to the high interest rates of the previous year and the slow pace at which financing rates for payment plans were being lowered. The harshest criticism came from Vice President Guillermo Moretti, who took direct aim at Economy Minister Luis Caputo: “We are being run by a debt-monger, a trader who doesn’t know what a lathe is.” Moretti accused the economic team of being out of touch with the country and its productive sector, of prioritizing the financial sector and the accumulation of personal wealth in dollars over a productive model, and denounced a severe process of “deindustrialization.”
El Cronista: “No conocen el país”: la dura crítica del vicepresidente de la UIA al Gobierno