NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA (Pietro D. Pitts, Energy Analytics Institute, 23.Feb.2025) — US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent conducted an introductory phone call with Argentine finance minister Luis Caputo.
The officials discussed “[Javier] Milei administration’s very impressive reform efforts to reduce inflation, rekindle private sector-led growth, reduce poverty, and increase real wages,” the treasury announced 23 Feb. 2025 in an official statement.
During the call, Bessent commended Caputo for “macroeconomic and structural reform measures that reduce the burden of regulation on the private sector, and that reduce the size and influence of government,” treasury said.
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Milei, in his first year as Argentina’s president, has tackled inflation, lowering it from around 25% per month to around 2.4% and reversed the freefall of the Argentine peso. These factors and others contributed to Argentina posting a fiscal surplus for the first time in 15 years.
Milei, a right-wing libertarian, has also taken positive steps to attract much-needed investments to Argentina’s capital intensive hydrocarbon sector.
This, through the launch of the new Incentive Regime for Large Investments, also known as RIGI. RIGI provides a favorable environment for investment, and offers benefits such as lower taxes, accelerated depreciation, and regulatory stability for 30 years.
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By Pietro D. Pitts reporting from New Orleans. © 2025 Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
