August 22nd, 2025
1. The candidates for the October national elections have been defined
This Sunday, August 17, with the registration of candidate lists throughout the country, the electoral race for the October 26 national legislative elections was finalized. In these elections, 127 deputies and 24 senators will be renewed, representing half and a third of each chamber, respectively. The closing of the lists has revealed a dynamic political landscape with several points to highlight: the high expected renewal in Congress, the consolidation of polarization between Peronism and the libertarians, the crisis of traditional parties such as the PRO and the UCR, and the strong bet by governors to position their leaders in the national sphere. In the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, La Libertad Avanza is nominating the Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, for the Senate and the lawyer Alejandro Fargosi for Deputies. For its part, Peronism is presenting Mariano Recalde for re-election to the Senate and Itai Hagman in the first position for Deputies. In the province of Buenos Aires, the ruling party heads its list of deputies with the economist José Luis Espert, accompanied by Karen Reichardt and Diego Santilli. Peronism, under the Fuerza Patria list, designated Jorge Taiana as the first candidate, with a diverse list that includes figures such as Juan Grabois, Vanesa Siley, and Teresa García.
Infobae: Cierre de listas: uno por uno, todos los candidatos a senadores y diputados para estas elecciones
2. Milei closes Council of the Americas
President Javier Milei closed the annual conference organized by the Council of the Americas with a speech. Milei claimed that “ideas of freedom work,” attributing to them the decline in inflation, the recovery of growth, and the lifting of millions of Argentines out of poverty. In its message to the red circle, the government sought to provide economic predictability by highlighting three pillars: fiscal discipline as a central anchor, exchange rate stability, and the path of interest rates. He pointed out that balanced public accounts are a necessary condition for sustaining the recovery, and that monetary and exchange rate policy will continue to be geared toward accumulating reserves and preserving external competitiveness. In turn, he emphasized that the country is going through a “pivotal moment” ahead of the October legislative elections, which he defined as key to consolidating his project in the face of the Kirchnerist apparatus. He harshly criticized the opposition, mentioning the “macabre spectacle in the National Congress, which made it very clear to us that we are facing a Congress hijacked by Kirchnerism, which only responds to its own interests. They reminded us that their legislative agenda includes the bankruptcy of the national government.”
El Cronista: El mensaje del Gobierno al círculo rojo: ancla fiscal, dólar y el futuro de las tasas y la cuenta corriente
3. Key session in the Chamber of Deputies
In a special session, the Chamber of Deputies approved the insistence on the bill declaring a disability emergency and supported the Executive Branch’s veto on an extraordinary pension bonus. 134 deputies were present on time in the chamber to begin the session. In addition, the governors’ bills on the sharing of National Treasury contributions—which received preliminary approval—and on fuel tax revenues—which were not discussed—were also addressed. Another prominent issue was the modification of the time zone: a bill to change the official time during the winter period was discussed and passed on to the Senate.
Cámara de Diputados: La cámara de diputados debatió los vetos del poder ejecutivo
4. Diego Spagnuolo removed from the Disability Agency after the release of audio recordings attributed to him in which he discussed bribes
Diego Spagnuolo was removed from his position as head of the National Disability Agency (Andis) on Wednesday after audio recordings were released in which he is allegedly heard discussing a bribery scheme involving service providers and high-ranking officials from the Casa Rosada. After hours of rumors, fueled by a looming scandal if the recordings were confirmed to have come from the official, the government, through the Presidential Spokesperson’s account on X, spoke of the “preventive” removal of the official with close ties to Javier Milei. Later, it published a decree on the matter in the Official Gazette.
5. July recorded a financial deficit and a 0.7% contraction in economic activity
In July 2025, the National Public Sector recorded a primary surplus of $1,749,386 million, driven by year-on-year growth in revenue of 40.4% and expenditure of 34.8%, accumulating a positive primary balance of 1.1% of GDP, in line with the target set with the IMF. However, a high debt interest burden—totaling $1,917,901 million, mainly due to the maturity of semi-annual coupons on Bonares and Global bonds—generated a financial deficit of $168,515 million. Minister Luis Caputo explained that this situation was due to the maturity schedule in January and July, as well as the payment of half of the annual bonus to public sector employees. Even so, in the first seven months of the year, the SPN maintained a financial surplus equivalent to 0.3% of GDP. Meanwhile, the Monthly Economic Activity Estimator (EMAE) for June 2025 showed a 0.7% contraction from the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms, marking the second consecutive monthly decline. However, compared to June 2024, economic activity grew by a robust 6.4%, reflecting a sustained recovery.
La Nación: Hubo déficit financiero en julio y el Gobierno lo atribuye al pago de deuda
El Cronista: El EMAE de junio cayó 0,7%, pero creció 6,4% interanual