These Are The Main Policies Javier Milei Seeks To Implement In Argentina As President

Shutting down the central bank, dollarizing the economy and privatizing several flagship companies, all part of a broader "chainsaw" plan to drastically reduce the size of the state.

These are the most salient parts of the platform championed by Javier Milei, Argentina's President-elect and the first head of State to espouse such ideologies at the helm of the South American country.

Beyond his proposals during the campaign, many of them conveyed with fiery rhetoric, Milei has began outlining the first steps he will take as of December 10, the day in which he will be invested.

Privatizations

In a radio interview on Monday, Milei anticipated his intention to privatize several state-run media companies: the national radio, the public TV broadcaster and a news agency.

"We consider that the public TV channel has become a propaganda machine. 75 percent of all content aired about our party during the campaign was negative, adding to a fear and smear campaign," he said.

Milei also mentioned state-run oil company YPF, showing willingness to privatize it but saying it has to be "put back on track" first. "When it comes to the energy transition we have in mind, both Enarsa and YPF have a role." "We need to get them to create value again, that way they can be sold in a way that yields benefits for all Argentines."

Dollarization

"Shutting down the central bank is a moral imperative because we think that stealing is wrong. You do it by dollarizing but shutting down the central bank is our main goal. Then, Argentines will choose the currency they like. In the end, you want to dollarize to get rid of the central bank," Milei said.

However, the President-elect's team has not yet unveiled a clear plan about how Argentina could move in that direction. He has said it will be more gradual than the proposals he made at the beginning of his campaign.

Milei also talked about his willingness to move towards ending currency controls, commonly known as cepo. He said that undoing them from day one is not possible because it would lead to hyperinflation, but that his team has a "clear plan" to do it.

"We'll try to do it as quickly as possible, because if you don't solve this problem at the central bank, you will always be chased by the shadow of hyperinflation. It's ticking-time bomb and there's no room for mistakes."

Milei has also shown intention of shifting the public education system to one centered around vouchers, in which people get one for a sum they can either use in a public institution or as payment in a private one. However, he has later said that "these things can't be implemented in the short-term," so "things will continue the way they are."

Overall, Milei said he also plans to reduce the number of existing ministries to eight and that he will seek to reduce public spending elsewhere to reduce the size of the state as much as possible. However, a lack of power in Congress (he is far from holding majorities of his own in any of the two chambers) and potential social turmoil are his main barriers to achieving his goals.