Argentina Braces For 24-hour Strike As It Awaits News On IMF Loan

Argentina is bracing for fresh austerity protests Wednesday, with a 24-hour general strike slated to start at midnight against President Javier Milei, who remains focused on Washington and a new IMF loan.

Thursday's labor action will be the third general strike in budget-slashing Milei's 16-month-old presidency, and was called by unions to protest his brand of "chainsaw" austerity.

Milei had famously wielded a live chainsaw during his presidential campaign to symbolize the cuts he would make to the bureaucracy and social spending.

In office, he has slashed subsidies for transport, fuel and energy, fired tens of thousands of public servants and shuttered entire government departments.

The measures have reduced inflation and resulted in Argentina's first budget surplus in over a decade, but also tipped the country into recession and millions more people into poverty in the first months of Milei's government -- though official data shows the numbers improving.

"The cost (of austerity) for vulnerable sectors is infinitely higher than is suggested by the monthly inflation index," Hector Daer, secretary general of the CGT labor movement, said ahead of the strike.

The action is set to paralyze trains and planes, and shutter schools and banks.

Argentina has one of the world's highest annual inflation rates, but Milei's measures are credited with bringing it down from 211 percent in 2023 to 66 percent.

Unions say the positive macroeconomic figures bely the average Argentine's loss of purchasing power.

Ahead of Thursday's work stoppage, Buenos Aires is set to play host Wednesday to a weekly protest by pensioners -- one of the groups hardest hit by Milei's cuts -- backed by labor unions and other social movements.

On March 12, 45 people were injured when a similar demonstration -- joined by football fans -- turned violent.

Argentina has sought a $20 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, adding to an existing $44 billion it already owes.

Milei says the money will allow his government to pay off its debts to the central bank and help "exterminate" inflation -- a key goal as the mid-term legislative campaign approaches, with his party seeking to increase its representation in Congress.

The IMF on Tuesday announced it had reached a preliminary loan agreement with Argentina, which must now be approved by its executive board.

A final decision could come "in the coming days," according to the lender.