The minister assured that the total public debt fell from 156.56% of GDP recorded in December 2023 to 69.9% in April 2026, while the cleaning up of the BCRA and the reduction of inherited liabilities progresses.
The use of a disbursement of approximately USD 1 billion made by the IMF, following the successful second review of the current agreement, which demonstrates international confidence in the economic direction of Javier Milei.
The Argentine Republic is undergoing a process of unprecedented debt reduction under the administration of Javier Milei. The National Government has managed to reverse the suicidal trend of the previous administration, reducing the total public debt from a staggering 156% of GDP (specifically 156.56% reached in December 2023) to a solid 69.9% recorded in April of this year. This drastic drop represents the success of the financial cleanup plan that aims to definitively distance the country from the specter of default and fiscal negligence.
The Minister of Economy, Luis "Toto" Caputo, confirmed that this progress is part of a methodical plan to restore the balance sheet of the BCRA, which had been devastated by the use of reserves to finance the Treasury's deficit. According to the official, "WE CONTINUE TO LOWER PUBLIC DEBT", a statement supported by the recent cancellation of non-transferable notes held by the Central Bank for a nominal value of USD 22.284 billion. This strategic operation allowed for an estimated reduction in the debt stock relative to GDP of 3.3 p.p. just during the month of May.
To achieve this management milestone, the National Treasury used two mechanisms of genuine financing, avoiding resorting to the spurious monetary issuance that characterized the past:
A repurchase using $18.4 trillion from the profits that the BCRA transferred to the Treasury from the results of the 2025 fiscal year.
The impact on the solvency of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic is significant. While international reserves grew robustly from USD 21.209 billion (as of December 7, 2023) to USD 48.511 billion currently, the stock of non-transferable notes —illiquid securities that suffocated the entity's assets— was drastically reduced from USD 67.190 billion at the end of 2023 to just USD 30.306 billion after the operations in May.
This process of restoring the balance sheet is, according to the economic team, a "key step within the disinflation process", as it eliminates the toxic assets that contributed to the inflationary acceleration recorded until 2023. Although some market analysts cautiously observe the sustainability, the government has demonstrated with official figures that the path towards financial stability is undeniable, prioritizing the strength of the Central Bank as the fundamental pillar for the economic rebirth of Argentina.
