President Javier Milei has celebrated his first six months in office, but both his supporters and critics are concerned by rising poverty and unemployment.
A new poll from the Equipo Mide consultancy firm, coinciding with the La Libertad Avanza leader’s first six months in office, indicated that most Argentines expect inflation to continue rising in the rest of the year and that the nation’s economic situation will also worsen.
Contrary to most surveys conducted since Milei took office, the President’s approval rating slipped sightly into the negative, scoring 50 percent to 48 percent positive.
Notably, 60 percent of those quizzed said they considered the head of state’s manners to be “bad,” disapproving of his style of governing.
Topping the list of concerns after six months of the Milei administration were poverty (23 percent), unemployment (15 percent) and inflation (14 percent). They were followed by corruption (12 percent), crime (10 percent), pensions (five percent), education (five percent), justice (three percent), housing (two percent), healthcare (two percent), drug-trafficking (two percent) and the environment (one percent).
Drilling down into expectations for inflation, 37 percent of respondents believe that prices will continue to rise in the next few months, while 33 percent say they will go down. Just over 20 percent said they would remain more or less unchanged.
Expectations for the next six months of the Milei administration are also low. Forty-one percent of those surveyed believe their situation will be “worse off,” whereas 33 percent consider it will be “better off” and 16 percent said it will remain “just as bad.”
When it comes to emotions, 41 percent of respondents maintain “hope” for the future, while 22 percent claim they feel “upset and angry.” Nineteen percent feel “uncertainty,” 12 percent feel “confidence,” 11 percent feel “disappointment” and 10 percent feel “afraid.”
The survey also measured the perception of the country’s direction with Milei’s measures, which showed that 51 percent believe it is the “wrong” path and 48 percent the “right” one.
– TIMES/PERFIL
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