In Buenos Aires all eyes have been on newly elected Argentine president, Mauricio Macri to fix the inflated state of the country’s economy. Macri was elected in December and promised Argentina’s citizens that he would curb inflation. But 8 months later there were reportedly tens of thousands rallying in front of the presidential palace in an “anti-Macri demonstration.” Some labor leaders and citizens are angry at the trajectory of the economy and for good reason. INDEC, the national statistics institute, stated that prices went up by 4.2% in May and The Wall Street Journal reported that unemployment rose to 9.3%. As with most countries’ presidents it’s hard to place all the blame on them when they inherited economic illnesses, such as a 7% budget gap and double-digit inflation.
Even though Macri was gifted this inheritance from the previous president, many think that his decisions to cut gas subsidies were not the right route to take as prices have begun to soar. This may be true, but it seems worth to the new president. Macri seems to be on a mission to not only lower inflation rates, but to rid of some old government spending habits as well. In recent years the government spent billions on subsidizing gas and electricity annually. These old policies were expensive and, in many ways, not properly allocated to relieve poverty. It’s hard to predict Macri’s failure or success just yet as it can be difficult for anybody to eradicate a country’s inflation in only 8 months. But all eyes remain on the Argentine president and the pressure is on. Could this be Argentina’s time for economic prosperity?