🇦🇷Milei stabilizes the exchange rate and gains investors' confidence, but Argentina faces the worst wave of corporate defaults since the pandemic

Javier Milei's economic reforms, including the $20 billion agreement with the IMF and the adoption of an exchange rate band between 1,000 and 1,400 pesos per dollar, provided stability to the market and reduced the country risk to levels not seen since 2019. The partial lifting of foreign exchange controls and the austerity policy excited investors, pushing the Merval index to historic records and strengthening the confidence of companies like Volkswagen, Nubank, and Mercado Libre.

However, monetary tightening and the rising cost of credit have caused the worst sequence of corporate defaults since the pandemic. More than six companies have gone into default in 2025, dollar rates exceeded 11%, and delinquency in credit cards and loans reached multi-year highs. Among the affected companies are Albanesi, Celulosa Argentina, and Aconcagua Energía, reflecting the high social and business cost of the government's economic shock agenda.