As prepared for delivery
Introduction
Good morning! ¡Buenos días! Bom dia!
Señor Javier Milei, presidente de la República Argentina; Señora Karina Milei, secretaria general de la Presidencia; Señor Gerardo Werthein, ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y Culto; Señor Luis Caputo, ministro de Economía; Señor Manuel Adorni, secretario de Comunicación y Medios; Mr. Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group; ambassadors; members of the diplomatic corps; ladies and gentlemen; dear friends!
Es un placer enorme darles la bienvenida a nuestra casa aquí en el BID, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo.
President Milei has now been in office for just over a year and he has already tackled many difficult challenges head-on and has been producing tangible results by pursuing bold economic reforms.
As we all know, recurring economic crises have limited Argentina’s economic development. Breaking free from this history requires bold reforms, and that’s exactly what Argentina’s government has undertaken.
President Milei has tackled Argentina’s fiscal deficit, a chronic and very difficult challenge that has caused Argentina problems for generations.
He took a large primary deficit of 2.9% of GDP at the end of 2023 and turned it into a 1.8% surplus by the end of 2024.
And the monetary financing of the deficit by the Central Bank has ceased.
President Milei, I recall that we spoke at your inauguration on the IDB’s estimate for efficiency gains in fiscal spending of 7.2% of GDP back in 2016. We have since updated this number to 3.5% at the end 2024 – meaning that inefficiencies have been reduced by 3.7% of GDP, with your reforms certainly playing a role.
And you clearly took advantage of these potential gains. Over the past year, your government slashed public spending by around 30% in real terms.
And your program of streamlining and simplifying regulations in Argentina has been remarkable, probably with short- but also long-term effects.
The results are there for everyone to see. Monthly inflation has fallen to its lowest level in four and a half years, to close to 2%. And real activity indicators have been recovering for months now: employment, real salaries, investment.
The IDB’s Support for Argentina
The IDB has been working closely with Argentina's economic policy team.
This year, we’ll continue backing Argentina’s reforms, further enhancing fiscal efficiency and the quality of public spending and working with citizen security, among other priorities. And we will continue to focus on private-sector-led growth, which is key to Argentina’s future.
Last year, our private-sector arm, IDB Invest, was also very active in Argentina, investing $800 million in high-impact projects. For 2025, IDB Invest is currently analyzing over 20 private-sector projects, with about $1 billion in potential financing planned for the next year.
These investments aim to support infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, agribusiness, mining, financial institutions, and other companies looking to increase production.
And just as the United States and the world look for secure supplies of lithium and other critical minerals, we’re supporting three major lithium and copper projects in Argentina.
As you know, Argentina is home to the world’s third-largest lithium reserves, making it a key player in the critical-minerals supply chain.
In fact, Argentina perfectly illustrates what Latin America and the Caribbean needs, which is a vibrant private sector that promotes growth by offering safe and reliable global supply chains in critical areas.
IDB Invest is uniquely positioned to promote this by leveraging its new business model and current capitalization process, which will double its size in the next few years.
We’re working with countries across Latin America and the Caribbean in areas that are key to promoting prosperity.
And as we all know, the more prosperous Latin America and the Caribbean is as a region, the safer and more prosperous the whole hemisphere will be.
Closing
Now, I know the person you really want to hear from is not me, but Argentina’s president, Javier Milei.
So, President Milei, we’re very happy to welcome you to the IDB. The floor is yours.
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Click here for the recording of “Argentina’s Economic Model,” our event featuring President Milei’s remarks.
About the IDB
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is devoted to improving lives across Latin America and the Caribbean. Founded in 1959, the IDB works with the region’s public sector to design and enable impactful, innovative solutions for sustainable and inclusive development. Leveraging financing, technical expertise and knowledge, it promotes growth and well-being in 26 countries.