Argentina's President Milei presents 2025 budget, vowing austerity and setting up a showdown

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Libertarian President Javier Milei of Argentina presented the 2025 budget to Congress late Sunday, outlining policy priorities that reflected his key pledge to kill the country's chronic fiscal deficit and signaled a new phase of confrontation with lawmakers.

In an unprecedented move, Milei personally pitched the budget to Congress instead of his economy minister, lambasting Argentina's history of macroeconomic mismanagement and promising to veto anything that compromised his tough slog of tight fiscal policy.

The president's budget proposal followed a week of political clashes in the legislature — where Milei controls less than 15% of the seats — over spending increases that the administration warns would derail its IMF-backed “zero deficit” budget. Opposition parties have sought to raise salaries and pensions with inflation to help hard-hit Argentines cope with harsh austerity.

“The cornerstone of this budget is the first truth of macroeconomics, a truth that for many years has been neglected in Argentina: that of zero deficit,” Milei told lawmakers, facing rows of empty seats as most of the hard-line opposition Peronist bloc, Unión por la Patria, skipped his address. “Managing means cleaning up the balance sheet, deactivating the debt bomb that we inherited.”

Milei's supporters interrupted his speech — packed with his usual libertarian talking points — with whoops and cheers.

It will fall to the opposition-dominated Congress, which controls the government’s purse strings, to approve the final budget. Milei’s political isolation makes matters fraught, setting up weeks of negotiations with rivals who insist on concessions.

But Milei vowed that nothing would stop him from pressing on with austerity.

“The budget is a declaration of principles,” said Argentine economist Agustín Almada. “Even if there is no compromise from the opposition, Milei will continue pursuing this fiscal contraction.”

If the stroke of a veto pen failed to prevent powerful lawmakers from spending, Milei promised to find other ways to cut down the state.

“We will only discuss the increase in spending when it comes along with an explanation of what we’ll cut to compensate for it,” Milei said.

Over Milei’s past nine months in office, dramatic cuts to public spending — which he says are necessary to restore market confidence in a country ravaged by one of the world's highest annual inflation rates — have racked up a fiscal surplus (0.4% of gross domestic product), something unseen in nearly two decades.

The austerity has also caused deep economic pain in Argentina, with nearly 60% of Argentines now living in poverty, up from 44% in December 2023, according to the Catholic University. Milei has balanced the budget by slashing financial transfers to provinces, removing energy and transport subsidies and holding wages and pensions steady despite inflation.

The fight over pensions reached a head last week, when Milei and his allies defeated a bill that would have boosted social security spending in Argentina, compromising the administration's fiscal discipline.

The bill had swept through both houses of Congress last month but opposition parties ultimately failed to obtain the two-thirds majority needed to override the president’s veto after government lobbying eroded support for the measure.

At the news of the bill's rejection Wednesday, outraged retirees — who have lost roughly half of their purchasing power due to inflation — poured into the streets of downtown Buenos Aires, where they faced off with riot police spraying tear gas and water cannons.

Milei warned that his fiscal shock therapy was not going to be easy. But his administration is betting that the worst has passed. Although Argentina's annual inflation hovers around 237%, Milei has retained popular support by working to keep a lid on monthly inflation, which has dropped to 4% since its peak of 26% last December when he took office.

In an optimistic statement about the budget Sunday, the Finance Ministry said it expected Milei's proposal to result in an annual inflation rate of just 18% by the end of 2025 and yield a 5% economic growth rate. Argentina's economy contracted by more than 3% in the first half of 2024.

But much of Milei's future depends on Congress. The government's pension law victory over congressional opponents proved short-lived, as lawmakers in the lower house also passed a bill increasing spending on public universities.

Milei has vowed to veto the bill.

Milei suffered another blow when lawmakers rejected his plan to raise spending on the intelligence services by more than $100 million. Despite all the belt-tightening, Milei has committed to increasing defense spending from 0.5% of GDP to 2.1%, raising the hackles of some lawmakers amid his cuts to health and education.

Although Milei has repeatedly compromised to get his legislation through Congress, he took a strident tone in Sunday's speech, describing lawmakers who disagree with him as “miserable rats who bet against the country."

Some analysts warned that Milei's exercise in political messaging spelled trouble.

“The image of a half-empty chamber of deputies during the president’s speech is an indication that it will not be easy for the government to pass this budget,” said Marcelo J. García, Director for the Americas at the New York-based geopolitical risk consultancy Horizon Engage. “Again, Milei seems to be prioritizing confrontation over compromise.”

Argentine President Javier Milei's parents, Norberto Milei and Alicia Lujan Lucich, attend his presentation of the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A woman scolds the police during protests against President Javier Milei's veto of a pension raise in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina's President Javier Milei greets his sister Karina Milei as he arrives to Congress to present the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina's President Javier Milei addresses Congress as he presents the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina's President Javier Milei greets his sister Karina Milei as he arrives at Congress to present the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina's President Javier Milei arrives at Congress to present the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Police guard Congress during protests against President Javier Milei's veto of a pension raise in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Victoria Villarruel, Argentina's vice president, arrives to President Javier Milei's presentation of the 2025 budget in Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Police detain a protestor during a demonstration against President Javier Milei's veto of a pension raise in front of Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Argentina's President Javier Milei addresses Congress as he presents the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina's Economy Minister Luis Caputo, second from left, greets Argentina's President Javier Milei upon as he arrives at Congress to present the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

A demonstrator holds a banner that reads in Spanish "The 2025 budget, starving us to death" as Argentina's President Javier Milei presents next year's budget in Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Argentina's President Javier Milei sings the national anthem as he addresses Congress to present the 2025 budget in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)