President Javier Milei denied rumors that he will veto the 2026 budget bill his government filed in Congress, after the Lower House approved it but without a key chapter that axed social spending.
The government considers the chapter vital to secure a zero deficit, Milei’s main goal.
The Senate needs to approve the bill for it to become law.
In an interview with LN+ news channel on Sunday evening, Milei said that having the budget approved by the Lower House was “very important” and explained that his government would reallocate expenses to make up for the rejected article.
This potentially means new cuts in other state areas will be made.
“We will look for the way, through any means possible, to reach a zero deficit without raising taxes,” he said to journalist Luis Majul.
On Thursday, the Lower House approved Milei’s 2026 budget, sanctioning all articles of the bill except for one that aimed to overturn laws that grant special funding for the disability sector and public universities.
Those bills were approved by Congress earlier this year, and Milei had vetoed them on the grounds that they went against fiscal balance and there were no resources to fund them. Notwithstanding, Congress upheld them in September, although they have not been put into effect yet by the government.
Now, the president confirmed that if the Senate approves the bill as it is, without the article that would have overturned the disability and public universities funding laws, he will sanction it.
Milei’s first budget If green-lighted by senators, this would be Argentina’s first approved budget bill since Milei took office in December 2023.
In 2024 and 2025 the government extended the previous year’s budget, without putting a new bill through Congress, which meant till now it has been spending at its own discretion.
This has meant that certain sectors Milei views as dispensable have been left with almost frozen budgets in the past three years, despite an inflation of around 250% since December 2023 to today.
Debt repayment In the interview, the president also spoke about the upcoming debt maturities, and how Argentina will face them.
He said the country will pay US$4.2 billion on January 9, highlighting a loan offer made by international private banks for up to US$7 billion, which has not yet been closed.
“We are calm,” the president said, about the debt repayment.
Some economists have warned that Argentina does not have enough reserves to cover its debt commitments, but the government has insisted that it will secure a loan to be able to comply.
Earlier this month, Argentina’s economy ministry issued a new local-law bond in U.S. dollars to partially pay for the debt maturities it is facing in January.
The new bond BONAR 2029N, tendered on December 10, is set to mature in 2029 and pay a 6.5% coupon every six months. Economy Minister Luis Caputo also said he will use part of the swap agreements with China and the U.S. to comply with the January maturity.
Mercosur On Saturday, Milei took part in a leaders’ summit in Foz de Iguazú, Brazil, that gathered the presidents of the countries that make up the South American economic bloc Mercosur.
The meeting was held amid the postponement of the trade agreement between the Mercosur and the European Union.
There, Milei criticized the lack of progress, saying that the situation of the Mercosur-EU agreement is an example of the “sluggishness” of the South American bloc.
During his speech, Milei backed a potential escalation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s military advances against Venezuela.
After standing by Ukraine in its war with Russia and Israel in its war with Palestine and Iran, this could signal yet another potential deviation of Argentina’s traditional neutral position on armed conflicts under the Milei government.
“Argentina salutes the pressure applied by the United States and Donald Trump to free the Venezuelan people,” Milei said. “The time for timid advances in this matter is over.”
He insisted on this idea during his Sunday interview, describing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as a “narco-terrorist dictator who is infecting the continent.” He said he wishes Maduro’s government be “brought down” and for Venezuela to “recover freedom.”