Javier Milei Sends Argentina Central Bank Reform Bill to Lower House

Javier Milei Argentina central bank reform fiscal shackle BCRA

Argentina’s executive branch sent a bill to overhaul the charter of the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) to the Chamber of Deputies on 31 July 2026, a day after President Javier Milei presented the plan in a nationwide broadcast. The reform is part of the government’s “fiscal shackle” package and is organized around six pillars.

The first pillar makes preserving the value of the currency the bank’s primary and fundamental mission, removing the multi‑mandate set in 2012. The second strips the board of powers to channel credit to small businesses and regional economies and sets a two‑thirds‑majority executive decree as the only way to remove board members. The third bans all financing of the public sector, including temporary advances, loans to the national, provincial or municipal governments and purchases of government securities in the primary market. The fourth limits profit distribution to realized liquid earnings not derived from exchange‑rate or gold movements and requires reserves of at least 50 % of capital. The government estimates that up to 36.6 trillion pesos – more than 80 % of the monetary base – could have been transferred to the Treasury through advances.

Milei also used the occasion to post on Instagram a graphic linking the historic inflation accumulated since the BCRA’s creation in 1935 (12 819 532 788 614 400 000 %) with the phrase “Nunca Más,” sparking controversy but reinforcing his criticism of the bank’s past financing of fiscal deficits.

Entities: Argentina · Argentine Treasury · Argentine government · Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA) · Central Bank of Argentina · Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (BCRA) · Chamber of Deputies · Chamber of Deputies of Argentina · Javier Milei · Martín Menem · Santiago Bausili

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 5 SOURCES] The reform is part of a broader economic package called the “fiscal shackle”. (belongs)
[● 4 SOURCES] The reform strips the board of powers to channel credit toward small businesses and regional economies. (belongs)
[● 3 SOURCES] The government estimates that up to 36.6 trillion pesos could have been transferred to the Treasury through advances, representing more than 80 % of the monetary base. (belongs)
[● 4 SOURCES] Removal of board members would require an executive decree approved by a two‑thirds majority in both chambers. (belongs)
[● 6 SOURCES] The bill would prohibit the central bank from financing the national treasury, provinces, municipalities, or buying government securities in the primary market. (belongs)
[● 3 SOURCES] Profit distribution would be limited to realized liquid earnings not derived from exchange‑rate or gold movements, with reserves required to be at least 50 % of capital. (belongs)
[● 6 SOURCES] The reform aims to make the central bank's primary mission to preserve the value of the currency, removing the multi‑mandate set in 2012. (belongs)
[● 6 SOURCES] The Argentine executive sent a bill to reform the central bank's charter to the Chamber of Deputies on 31 July 2026. (belongs)