By Sean Seddon in London & Katy Watson in São PauloBBC Information
![Reuters Javier Milei giving a speech](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/$recipe/cpsprodpb/1145B/production/_131974707_02bcf2ac64bdc257292d099be1582d1b3705e6cb0_0_3106_20741000x668.jpg)
Argentina’s new far-right president has vowed to ship financial “shock remedy” in his first speech after formally taking workplace.
Javier Milei warned Argentines “there is no such thing as a cash” and recommitted to a programme of harsh austerity measures.
The populist outsider gained a shock election victory in November with radical pledges to overtake the South American nation’s ailing financial system.
Mr Milei’s inauguration was held in Buenos Aires on Sunday.
In a day of pomp and ceremony, the 53-year-old capped his extraordinary rise to energy with a speech which left Argentines in little doubt he intends to embark on an financial path in contrast to any earlier president.
He mentioned he would undo “many years of decadence” with deep spending cuts, designed to slash enormous public money owed and drive down inflation, which is now increased than 140%.
![Reuters Javier Milei in a car as part of a procession](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/$recipe/cpsprodpb/1853F/production/_131974699_c6bb21ffbf300747429a52a4fe06a386e46542af0_0_5504_36701000x667.jpg)
“The underside line is that there is no such thing as a different to austerity and there’s no different to shock remedy,” Mr Milei mentioned.
“We all know that within the brief time period the scenario will worsen. However then we’ll see the fruits of our efforts.”
Mr Milei waved to supporters throughout a procession to the presidential palace alongside his sister Karina, the confidant who is predicted to play an influential function behind the scenes in his new administration.
He addressed the gang and chanted marketing campaign slogans from the balcony, and was introduced with the blue and white presidential sash and baton – which he had personalised with engravings of his 5 canines.
Mr Milei has risen quickly from relative obscurity to Argentina’s highest workplace on a right-wing platform which incorporates proscribing abortion rights, liberalising gun legal guidelines and local weather change denial.
![Reuters Javier Milei giving a speech](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/$recipe/cpsprodpb/C63B/production/_131974705_c6220064b69031b4c34876c27189bbc46c29eb410_0_3744_24961000x667.jpg)
He was incessantly pictured wielding a chainsaw on the marketing campaign path, and his unflinching statements have been likened to former US President Donald Trump and former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
In the course of the marketing campaign he mentioned he would exchange Argentina’s forex with the greenback and abolish the nation’s central financial institution, together with a bunch of presidency departments.
However whereas the presidency comes with sweeping powers, Mr Milei will face political limitations as he makes an attempt to repair a set of daunting issues.
The peso – Argentina’s embattled forex – is in long-term freefall, poverty ranges have soared to 40% and, in line with IMF information, the financial system is in a deep recession.
There’s little doubt that Mr Milei has inherited an financial system in disaster. What is just not clear is whether or not he’ll proceed alongside the trail of radical options he proposed throughout his marketing campaign or whether or not he’ll average his guarantees in order to not rock the boat.
The brand new president will seemingly face opposition in Argentina’s Congress, the place the coalition of small right-wing and libertarian events he leads has solely minority illustration.
![Reuters Volodymyr Zelensky and Javier Milei](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/$recipe/cpsprodpb/E5DF/production/_131974885_d3f80bcdb6555e05777c560f3e2af26fd4439ccf0_0_2048_13661000x667.jpg)
Some observers have famous a extra average tone since his victory was confirmed. Nonetheless, hours into the job, the brand new president signalled he intends to control as he campaigned by signing a decree to scale back the variety of departments from 18 to 9, making good on a key pledge.
Among the many friends on the swearing-in ceremony was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has met a number of Latin American leaders as he seeks to shore up international help for his nation’s struggle effort.
The pair have been pictured embracing and Mr Zelensky later advised reporters they’d mentioned methods Argentina might help Ukraine.
Hungary’s President Viktor Orban – who Mr Milei has been likened to ideologically – was additionally in attendance.
With the pomp and ceremony of the inauguration over, Argentines will now give attention to how their new president approaches the job in apply.
And whereas Mr Milei was buoyed by the frustration of voters with earlier administrations, he’ll now should ship to keep away from disappointing those that backed him. His honeymoon interval will seemingly be brief.