Economy Minister Luis Caputo announced that the government is undertaking labor and tax reforms, alongside benefits designed to encourage businesses to conserve their resources in pesos. While lacking specific details or a timeline for implementation, he indicated that these actions will constitute the “second stage” of President Javier Milei’s administration. “We clearly need a more agile and dynamic labor regimen that will end the industry of [labor] trials,” Caputo stated. The event serves as a yearly convergence for professionals across various industries, and announcements for the private sector are typically made during that forum. He stated that the existing labor system is “archaic, rigid, and unpredictable” and “only favors a handful in the detriment of the rest of Argentines.”
Caputo is presently in Washington, participating in the 2025 Annual Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. He has spent recent weeks in Washington negotiating bailout tools for Argentina with the U.S. government. In discussing the prevailing labor norms, Caputo remarked that businesspeople are “the ones who suffer them the most, which is why employment has not increased since 2011. You are undoubtedly aware of the challenges associated with hiring, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, where the act of terminating an employee can jeopardize the viability of the entire business.”
The government is also planning significant incentives for businesses to conserve in pesos, with the objective of channeling those funds into the private sector to facilitate growth. Caputo stated that the Milei administration does not intend to pursue a devaluation and remarked that he “finds it archaic” to think that “the only way Argentina can be competitive is by having a weak currency.”
“We believe that the only way to achieve competitiveness is through increased deregulation, tax reductions, labor and tax reforms, and the establishment of long-term funding at more reasonable rates,” he stated, further noting that efforts are underway to position Argentina as “one of the most free countries in the next 20 years.”