In address to congress, Argentine President Milei promises IMF deal and lauds economic wins

Argentina’s libertarian president Javier Milei has signaled that a new and much-anticipated deal with the International Monetary Fund is imminent. Late Saturday, he used his annual address to congress to project an optimistic picture of his economic overhaul following a divisive first year in office and recent swirl of controversies. In a self-congratulatory speech that played to the sentiments of his right-wing base but included little in the way of new policy, Milei promised the nation that, in the coming days, he would “ask congress to support the government in this new agreement with the International Monetary Fund” even as it seemed Argentina had yet to close the deal.