President Javier Milei asked “patience” in the face of the deterioration of economic activity and inflation in recent months, while acknowledging that the first quarter was “difficult” and defended the direction of the economic program. He also assured that “The economy is beginning to take off.”
The message was published this Thursday on his official X account after the data of fall in industry and construction during February. There, the president sought to reinforce the idea that the recent deterioration is temporary and that the data show an improvement with respect to the inherited situation.
“We know these last few months have been hard.“, Milei wrote on his X account. In the same post, he stated that “the data is compelling” and that Argentina is “much better” than in 2023. In this context, he insisted: “That’s why we ask for patience. The direction is correct”.
In that message, he also recognized the heterogeneity of the economic process. “Not everyone is better“, he noted, adding that the statistics reflect averages and that there are sectors that are left behind. “Improvement processes do not advance at the same speed for everyone,” held.
He also attributed recent tensions to the impact of last year’s electoral process. As he stated, that episode involved “higher rates, lower activity and more inflation”, in line with the diagnosis that the economic team has been supporting.
A day before, in an interview with Public Television, the President had developed this diagnosis in greater detail and recognized the impact of the beginning of the year. “It has been a complicated quarter in terms of inflation“, he said, and admitted a deterioration in social indicators: “Once the impacts in terms of poverty are overcome, which is going to have a difficult quarter, you will see that we return to the trend of reducing poverty.”
In that dialogue, Milei linked the performance of the economy to a combination of factors. On the one hand, he pointed to the drop in demand for money during the October election periodwhich led to a strong dollarization of portfolios and a contraction of liquidity. “There was a very strong drop in the demand for money,” he said.
That episode—which he estimated to be around 50% at its most critical moment—had delayed effects on the economy at the beginning of 2026. As he explained, the reduction in the monetary liabilities of the Central Bank (BCRA) reduced the financing available to the private sector and put upward pressure on interest rates.
The impact was transferred directly to the production level. “Activity came to a screeching halt“, he stated, when describing the effect of rising credit prices on companies.
At that point, the President introduced an explanation focused on working capital. He argued that, faced with weaker demand and longer collection periods, companies needed more financing to sustain their daily operations, but found themselves with less liquidity in the system. “You have a greater demand for working capital and a lower supply. Consequently, the interest rate went through the roof”he explained.
This mismatch, he added, also had a fiscal impact. According to Milei, many companies chose to postpone paying taxes to sustain their operations. “When your income drops, the question is whether you eat or pay taxes. Well, companies did that,” said.
Added to that picture was external shockparticularly the impact of the war on oil prices, which put pressure on prices in the short term. The recomposition of rates and seasonal factors typical of the beginning of the year also influenced.
Despite this diagnosis, Milei insisted that there will be no changes in the economic strategy. “The fundamentals “They continue to be solid,” he stated, and reiterated that the Government will maintain fiscal balance and restrictive monetary policy.
Going forward, the president was optimistic. “Activity from April will improve“, he assured. Along the same lines, he anticipated a slowdown in inflation and an improvement in real incomes. “You are going to see more economic activity, more employment, better real wages and less inflation,” he said.
“Once the impacts of this quarter have been overcome, We are going to return to the downward trend in poverty”, he concluded.
