Javier Milei: “We want people to transact in dollars to avoid a faster fall in price”

In this context, the President reiterated the idea of coin competitionone of his campaign promises, to allow citizens to carry out transactions directly in dollars, instead of depending exclusively on pesos. “We want people to transact in dollars to avoid a faster fall in the price,” Milei said. Which, according to him, would help avoid an even faster fall in the exchange rate.

Milei pointed out that the influx of dollars, largely driven by the countryside and the energy sector, could balance the exchange balance, with a foreign exchange surplus that is expected to be around US$10 billion next year. However, he acknowledged that, given his focus on keeping the amount of money fixed, It would not be possible to intervene directly to support the exchange rate, which reinforces his proposal to encourage the use of dollars in everyday transactions.

Furthermore, the President recognized that with a projected inflation close to 120% annuallycosts in dollars increase sharply, which poses additional challenges for companies, especially in a context of dollar appreciation and the difficulty of achieving a deflation process that boosts competitiveness.

In an attempt to avoid excessive appreciation of the exchange rate, the government implemented measures such as lowering rates, seeking to reduce the carry trade in pesos and increase the supply of dollars in the market.

On poverty and wages

Milei described his administration as “the best government in history” and compared it to the two terms of Carlos Saúl Menem. “Currently, we have a stabilization program superior to Convertibility and we have implemented a much deeper reform. If the Government stopped today, that would mean that we have been the best Government in history, even with everything we achieved in just one year,” said Milei.

The president also addressed the issue of real wages, pointing out that “it has been growing above inflation for seven months.” Regarding poverty and homelessness, he stated that the number of people in these conditions “is decreasing significantly.”

Regarding the INDEC measurements, he explained that the problem lies in the fact that they are semiannual, which means that, if the initial numbers were high, the observed average ends up being lower.

Milei expanded his argument about price control, highlighting that this does not apply to all products, but only to those that make up the index. He assured that the baskets used in poverty indices are usually underestimated, mentioning the case of the price controls implemented by Guillermo Moreno, who set prices that were not later found on the shelves. “When inflation continues, those prices disappear, giving rise to a poverty rate that may seem encouraging, but it is like measuring your salary with the dollar at 1 to 1“, held.

Finally, the president highlighted the progress made, such as the reduction of poverty by 11 points and the increase in wages in dollars, which went from 300 to 1,100. He also mentioned that GDP per capita in dollars had grown by 120% this year, and highlighted the improvement in bonds, which now exceed 70, and in country risk, which has fallen by 2,300 points.