Argentina's Mileise: Construction, manufacturing collapse amid plummeting demand

Argentina's Statistics Bureau (INDEC) reported that industrial activity registered a drop of 21.2% in March compared to the same month in 2023 - while construction plummeted 42.2%.

Both indicators are a clear example of the strong recession facing the economy, after the strong devaluation implemented on December 12th by the far-right Javier Milei administration.

The 118% devaluation - a record for any single day in Argentine history - promptly resulted in wholesale prices jumping an astonishing 54% in December alone.

All sixteen major industrial sectors saw declines - with electronic equipment, devices and instruments (–42.8%), furniture, mattresses and other (–40.4%), electrical machinery and equipment (–37.9%), and steel and aluminum (–34.0%) slowing most.

Construction, for its part, suffered a 42.2% collapse. “Such a contraction was only recorded by this indicator in the [foreign debt crisis] period 2001-02, and during the quarantine months of 2020,” economist Orlando Ferreres noted.

Ferreres' monthly gross domestic investment estimate showed a 22.3% annual crash in March.

Milei was elected in November on promises to jump-start the country's economy “after decades of populist disaster” by copying Reagan and Thatcher-era “pro-business” recipes.

Critics charge that his policies instead resemble those of the fascist, last dictatorship (1976-83), and of the neo-conservative Mauricio Macri (2015-19) - both of which left massive foreign debt and economic crises in their wake.

At: https://somostelam-com-ar.translate.goog/noticias/economia/continua-el-derrumbe-en-el-nivel-de-actividad-la-industria-cayo-en-marzo-212-y-la-construccion-422/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

A normally hectic pedestrian street in downtown Buenos Aires stands empty during today's general strike against far-right President Javier Milei's recessionary policies.

Led by a collapse in manufacturing and construction, economists estimate a 10% fall in monthly GDP in March - a downturn approaching that of the lockdown-induced nationwide stoppage in March-April 2020.

This recession, however, is viewed as unlikely to see the "V-shaped" recovery that followed the 2020 lockdown, with a projected drought in 2025 likely to prolong the ongoing "Mileise" for the hard currency-strapped country of 47 million.