Argentina's President Javier Milei is questioning the country's official activity data, while economists offer their own explanations for a steep decline recorded in July, according to La Nación. Milei has rejected the idea that Argentina is in recession, saying instead that the economy is experiencing a slowdown in its pace, Página|12 reported. The dispute centers on how the government's statistics agency, Indec, measures economic activity.
The government has ruled out making changes to Indec despite Milei's criticism of its measurements, La Nación reported. Economists cited in the coverage attribute the sharp July contraction to factors they say the official figures reflect, though the president disputes that reading.
The disagreement has drawn in labor leaders as well. The CGT, Argentina's main union confederation, accused the government of constructing a negative narrative about the real economy, according to Filo News. Meanwhile, El Cronista reported that fresh data are not encouraging, raising the question of whether the country meets the definition of a technical recession even as Milei denies one.
The back-and-forth leaves Argentina's economic picture contested from multiple directions: the president challenging the data, economists defending their interpretation of the July fall, and unions arguing the government is shaping how the slowdown is described. What to watch next is whether Indec's upcoming activity reports confirm the July decline and how the government responds to them.
