Following two years of recession, Argentina's economy is projected to grow by approximately 5 percent this year as financial markets in the country are responding positively to President Javier Milei's reforms.
There are high expectations that the Argentine economy will rebound this year, after contracting by nearly 3 percent in 2024. The country's stock exchange is still celebrating last year's performance.
"At least from the market's point of view, you have something that is very objective. That is the prices. Hard dollar sovereign bonds went from 20 cents to 70 cents in a year. So, that was crazy, a more than 120-percent increase in our index prices. So, performance has been really good," Gonzalo Pascual Merlo, CEO of BYMA Stock Exchange, said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Milei, a right-wing libertarian who took office in 2023, promised what he called economic "shock therapy" to combat Argentina's rampant inflation, including measures such as devaluing the currency peso, reducing government personnel and cutting fiscal expenditure.
Markets have welcomed the economic policies of the president.
"They are doing the proper homework, you know, good fiscal policy, monetary order. Then things start getting together and a very happy and positive cycle starts," Merlo said.
Milei government's symbolic "chainsaw" plan pointed to a series of achievements in 2024, including the first fiscal surplus in 14 years and significant declines in monthly inflation rate from 25.5 percent in December 2023.
"The federal government did a fiscal cut of five points of GDP, this is a huge amount. The poverty rate increased by eight points in the first semester of last year, just because of the economic adjustment. But then it has also very important and positive effect on inflation, which was reduced significantly," said Martin Rapetti, executive director of Buenos Aires-based consultancy Equilibra.
Experts say Milei still faces a series of challenges for his economic reforms to be considered a success, given the slowed but still high inflation, which ended the year at 117 percent, the increase in poverty, slumped manufacturing and industrial sectors as well as other unresolved social issues.
"The main risk I think, I see is that the exchange rate, the peso is probably overvalued. When the peso is overvalued in Argentina, at some point, there might be a correction of that, which means a depreciation of the peso, which could be soft or abrupt. In Argentina, typically is the second," Rapetti said.
Argentina has been negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new 11-billion-U.S.-dollar loan, as part of the government's ongoing efforts to stabilize its economy and address financial challenges.
Argentina's economy poised for growth with promising outlook for 2025
Argentina's economy poised for growth with promising outlook for 2025
Foreign diplomats and scholars are looking closely at this year's "two sessions", saying China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will not only chart the nation's economic and technological priorities but also reshape global value chains.
The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, opened on Wednesday, followed by the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Together known as the "two sessions," these meetings offer a comprehensive view into China's development priorities.
Global observers emphasized that the 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint guiding the nation's economic, social, and technological priorities over the next five years, marks a decisive shift toward high‑quality growth anchored in advanced technologies, with ripple effects across the world.
"The two sessions will discuss China's five-year plan, which is heavily oriented toward China's major technological development. I believe this is important because it represents the new blueprint for China's economy, which is now oriented toward the renowned high-quality development, and this will undoubtedly impact the entire world. I think it is worth studying. This is very important for Latin America. It will help us integrate more intelligently into global value chains and into all aspects of the major development that China is promoting in iconic industrial sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space development, where Latin America also has much to contribute beyond just commercial growth," said Gustavo Sabino Vaca Narvaja, former Argentine Ambassador to China.
"The two sessions are a major political milestone in China, and this year's gathering carries even greater significance as this year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This plan represents not only a blueprint for China, but also a guide for other countries. Instruments like the five-year plan effectively provide greater certainty and predictability for the rest of the world," said Chilean scholar of international relations Ignacio Araya Heredia.
"This is a particularly important date, especially due to the fact that the next Five-Year Plan shall be positioned and we're going to see what its main elements shall be. Serbia, which has a very high degree of steel friendship with the People's Republic of China, can expect further assistance in identifying the most prominent areas of Serbian economy and being helped by its great partner, such as it has been done in the previous period, from one part with establishing the main infrastructure projects, but also reshaping the industrial sector of Serbia, not just Serbia, but the region as a whole," said Veljko Mijuskovic, assistant professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade.
Beyond the policy framework, experts also pointed to China's achievements in green energy and technological innovation as models worth emulating.
Tomasz Bielinski, adjunct professor at the University of Gdansk's Faculty of Economics, said the robotics displays at the 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala reflected China's broader push in technological innovation.
"I was really impressed about the robotics. I'm very impressed with Chinese development in the technological field, we can still make great deals with Chinese businessmen and we can cooperate together to use this technology for both the good of China and the European Union. I'm aware of the innovation especially in autonomous drive on the on the Chinese side," he said.
"We hope for more of China's economic cooperation, especially in trade and also in investment. Also, and the other focus, if I talk about the focus of the development, don't forget about the green energy. We know that China is great in the electric vehicle field. So because China's electric vehicles in Indonesia nowadays, since couple of years ago, are very, very popular," said Al Busyra Basnur, president of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association.
Observers see China's new five-year plan driving high-quality development, global tech shifts
