LLA seeks to approve two key economic bills in Congress

The Lower House of Argentina is scheduled to debate two economic bills on Wednesday, proposed by President Javier Milei. These bills aim to reform the Central Bank's charter and incentivize the inclusion of dollar holdings in the formal economy. The bills are considered key components of Milei's legislative agenda for 2026, but they must still receive approval from the Senate to become law.

The ruling party, La Libertad Avanza (LLA), agreed to incorporate several proposals from smaller provincial blocs to garner additional support for the session. One such proposal is lowering the value-added tax on cassava, following a successful mixed performance in an early August session, where the government's Private Property Rights reform bill passed, but LLA had to remove its most crucial provisions due to insufficient opposition support.

The reform, which sought to modify the Land Law, remains to be debated in the Lower House. Other bills to be addressed on Wednesday include the free trade agreement between Mercosur and Singapore, and the ratification of the Patents Cooperation Treaty, which was initially passed in the Senate in 1998 but has not been debated in the Lower House.

The Central Bank's charter reform is a significant part of Milei's agenda, as he seeks to redefine the Central Bank's sole responsibility to preserving the value of the Argentine currency, thereby eliminating its other objectives such as financial stability, full employment, social equity, and economic development. Additionally, the government filed a bill to reform Fiscal Innocence, a law that raised the tax evasion threshold to encourage Argentines to bring their stashed dollars into the formal economy, albeit with reduced authority from authorities.

The reform, known as Fiscal Innocence II, aims to address the risk of taxpayers losing the benefits of the regime if discrepancies in tax filings are identified by the national tax agency ARCA.