October 17th, 2025
1. Javier Milei did not attend the IDEA Colloquium, but sent Adorni with promises of labor reform and lower taxes
Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni appeared in Mar del Plata and delivered President Javier Milei’s message to business leaders gathered at the 61st IDEA Colloquium: “The government will send reforms to the new Congress on Friday,” said the spokesperson, explaining that the goal is to make “micro adjustments so that the microeconomy does not lag behind” the macroeconomy. He emphasized: “We need to reform the labor market so that economic dynamism can be accompanied by labor dynamism.” In this context, he also announced that they will seek to eliminate 20 taxes that “do not contribute to total revenue” in order to advance Milei’s 2023 campaign promises. However, the presidential spokesperson clarified that the reforms will be successful in Congress if the ruling party does well in the elections on October 26, a key date for the government and for the country.
Perfil: Javier Milei le mandó mensaje al círculo rojo en IDEA: promesas de reforma laboral y menos impuestos
2. Inflation in September was 2.1%, accumulating 31.8% over the last year
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC), inflation accelerated slightly in September, reaching 2.1%. With this figure, the variation for the last twelve months was 31.8% and accumulated 22% so far in 2025. Among the items that showed the highest increases were Housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels and Education, both at 3.1% (the category showing the highest increase (62.2%) in the last 12 months, doubling the overall average), followed by Transportation at 3%. One step below was Health with 2.3%; then Communication with 2.2% and Miscellaneous goods and services with 2.1%. The rest of the items remained below the overall level, with Food and non-alcoholic beverages—the most significant item—at 1.9%. Likewise, INDEC reported that the Total Basic Basket (CBT), which marks the poverty line, and the Basic Food Basket (CBA), which defines the indigence line, registered a monthly variation of 1.4% in September 2025, according to the agency’s data. Thus, in order not to fall below the poverty line, a typical family of four needed an income of AR$1,176,852, and AR$527,736 to avoid falling into extreme poverty.
Infobae: La inflación de septiembre fue de 2,1% y acumuló 31,8% en los últimos doce meses
3. Donald Trump backed Milei, but made economic aid conditional on the election results
US President Donald Trump welcomed Javier Milei to the White House and praised his administration, although he warned about the political impact of the October elections: “If the president does not win, we would not be generous with Argentina.” Following his statements, the US government sought to moderate the message, conveying support and highlighting Argentina as a strategic ally. During lunch at the White House, Milei and his entourage met with Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who later detailed that the financial assistance package will reach US$40 billion, including a new private credit line of US$20 billion. Bessent explained that this is “a private sector solution for Argentina’s upcoming debt payments” and noted the interest of “numerous banks and sovereign wealth funds.” For his part, Argentine Ambassador to the US Alec Oxenford announced that a “very important” trade agreement between the two countries would be announced shortly. Meanwhile, markets experienced sharp fluctuations following the meeting and announcements.
El Cronista: El Gobierno confirmó el anuncio de un acuerdo comercial “muy importante” con EE.UU.
4. Registered private employment fell in July, according to the Ministry of Human Capital
In July 2025, the registered workforce reached 12.886 million people and remained stable compared to the previous month, according to the Situation and Evolution of Registered Employment (SIPA) report published by the Ministry of Human Capital. However, compared to July 2024, it showed a 2.7% drop (361,100 fewer people), the lowest level since Javier Milei became president. Thus, since November 2023, more than 200,000 jobs have been lost, including those in the private sector, the state sector, and private households: 127,000 private salaried jobs, almost 57,900 public sector jobs, and 20,600 jobs in private households. Thus, in the seventh month of the year, there were 10,096,200 registered salaried jobs, the lowest figure since October 2022 (including the private sector, the public sector, and work in private households) and 2.8 million people with self-employed work (single taxpayers and freelancers).
Perfil: El empleo privado registrado cayó en julio según el Ministerio de Capital Humano
5. Santilli tops the La Libertad Avanza list, but ballots will not be reprinted
Following José Luis Espert’s resignation, Argentina’s National Electoral Chamber ruled that Diego Santilli will head the ruling party’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) list in the province of Buenos Aires. The decision reverses an earlier ruling by Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla, who had assigned the top spot to Karen Reichardt. The court, which ruled in favor of the government, harshly questioned the judge’s actions. However, the measure also contradicts the opinion of prosecutor Ramiro González, who agreed with Ramos Padilla and had ruled out reprinting the ballots for reasons of time and cost, since the deadline for sending them to the printer was October 11. The ballots will not be reprinted, and voters will see José Luis Espert’s face in the voting booth, but the Chamber ordered the reprinting of election posters (public posters with the list of candidates) to show the new grid with Santilli and without Espert.