There was considerable excitement when the revolutionary economist and leader Javier Milei took over the reins of Argentina. Much was expected of him by a people who had endured extreme hardships for a long time. In contrast, the current ruling lot in Pakistan may not have come to power on a similar wave of popularity, but given the track record of the PML-N and the economic results under direct military rule, much was also expected of this combination, albeit on the economic front.

Truth be told, economic results in both Argentina and Pakistan are falling short of expectations. Let us compare the salient economic features under the two administrations, given the many similarities in what they inherited, despite being geographically far apart.

In Milei’s case, his administration has delivered a dramatic, highly polarised macroeconomic stabilisation plan that has crushed inflation and balanced the budget, but at the cost of a deep economic contraction, business closures and significant public hardship. Pakistan seems little different.

Approaching his third year in office, Milei’s ‘chainsaw austerity’ has transformed Argentina’s economic landscape into a stark two-speed economy. Pakistan presents a similar picture, where the divide and disparity have increased significantly, creating two distinctly different worlds: one for the masses, being pushed deeper into poverty, and the other for a select segment that can drive the meaningless headline numbers our economic managers often quote to justify their performance.

1) Defusing Hyperinflation: Milei took office in late 2023, inheriting an annual inflation rate of 211 per cent. Through aggressive fiscal adjustments, monthly inflation has been reduced to below 2 per cent, bringing annual inflation down to around 31–33 per cent by late 2026, arguably one of the most rapid turnarounds in recent monetary........

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