Argentina's National Congress will begin extraordinary sessions on Wednesday to debate a package of bills, with the main focus on passing the first budget of Javier Milei's administration. Milei has been governing the country under a prolonged 2022 budget law, but with a new, more favorable parliamentary composition, his government seeks to approve the spending and revenue law for the upcoming year. The ruling coalition will be the minority in the Chamber of Deputies, requiring negotiations with opposition blocs to secure the necessary votes for legislation. Similarly, in the Senate, the government will need to build consensus. While the legislative agenda includes other bills such as labor reform, the top priority is to approve the 2026 budget within the 20 days remaining until the end of December. To achieve this, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, MartÃn Menem, the head of the ruling bloc, Patricia Bullrich, and the Minister of the Interior, Diego Santilli, are coordinating the parliamentary strategy. Key to this will be negotiations with opposition blocs. The proposed budget projects a 5% economic growth, 10.1% inflation, and an exchange rate of 1,423 pesos per US dollar by December 2026. Total expenditures are set at 148 trillion pesos, with 85% allocated to social spending, including health, education, and pensions.
