‘There is no money’: Argentina’s Milei vetoes pension boost passed by Congress

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters): Argentine President Javier Milei on Monday vetoed a pension boost and a bill strengthening protections for people with disabilities, which lawmakers had passed in July, saying that they put fiscal balance at risk.

The decision to veto the bills had already been announced by Milei last month, although Congress – where the libertarian president does not have a majority – can still overturn the vetoes.

The vetoes come less than three months before Argentina’s mid-term elections, seen as a gauge of approval for the Milei administration, which has managed to reduce triple-digit annual inflation but whose austerity policies have had a social impact.

After the publication of an executive order with the vetoes, the Argentine presidency said in a statement that the bills had been approved by Congress in an irresponsible manner, without identifying funding sources.

“This president prefers to tell an uncomfortable truth rather than repeat comfortable lies: there is no money,” the statement said.