Argentina's Economic Activity Faces Continuing Decline Amid Austerity Policies

Argentina's economic activity decreased by 1.7% in April compared to the previous year, a slight improvement from sharper declines in earlier months. This marks the sixth consecutive month of negative year-on-year results following strict austerity measures implemented by libertarian President Javier Milei. The construction and manufacturing sectors were particularly affected.

Argentina's economic activity decreased 1.7% in April from a year earlier, the country's official statistics agency said on Friday, a slight improvement from sharper declines in prior months.

April's result was the sixth month in a row that the country has registered a negative year-on-year result, marking the slowdown since libertarian President Javier Milei rolled out strict austerity measures after taking office in December. April's economic activity fell by less than the 4% decline expected by analysts polled by Reuters, and compared with 2.7% and 8.3% declines in February and March respectively.

Eight sectors logged declines in April's year-on-year comparison, data from the INDEC statistics agency showed. The country's economy was particularly hit in the construction sector, which registered a 24.8% drop compared with the same month in 2023.

The manufacturing industry, meanwhile, was down 15.7%, according to the data.