In the midst of the claim for funds owed by the Nation, Governor Axel Kicillof summoned the 135 mayors of the province of Buenos Aires, both from the ruling party and the opposition, to a summit in La Plata to evaluate the economic scenario and coordinate measures against a situation that his government already describes as “critical.”
The meeting will take place on Thursday the 26th at 3:30 p.m. in the Golden Hall of the Government. It was convened under the slogan “Economic consequences of the Milei government on the productive and economic system of the province of Buenos Aires and its municipalities.” All community leaders are invited: those from Unión por la Patria, the radicals, those from the PRO, the neighborhood members and the libertarians.
This is the first summit of the year of its kind and also comes at a particular moment for the governor, who is launching his national project for 2027. This week he launched the Right to the Future Study Center (CEDAF), his own political powerhouse to generate the national government plan, and also launched the Right to the Future Movement (MDF) on Buenos Aires soil.
As explained by the Government to Timethe objective of the meeting is to draw a clear diagnosis of the situation of the province’s accounts, as a result of the impact of the economic plan applied by the government of Javier Milei. That is: fall in federal co-participation, declining revenue as a result of the recession and a national debt of more than 15 billion that continues to grow day by day.
The economic situation hits hard in the municipalities that feel the impact of the crisis. Communal leaders of different political colors agree that they should have redoubled assistance in terms of food, medicine and even financial aid so that residents can afford to pay the debts incurred to solve basic day-to-day issues. Faced with this situation, the mayors are knocking on the door of the Government that distributes co-participation and other resources such as the Municipal Strengthening Fund, which was the subject of arduous negotiations during the treatment of the 2026 Budget.
Photo: PBA Government Press
The governor will receive the communal chiefs along with his cabinet. At the head of the economic exhibition will be the Minister of Economy, Pablo López, and the Minister of Production, Science and Technological Innovation, Augusto Costa, who have been talking for months about a situation of “financial drowning” and ensuring that the crisis is deepening due to the loss of employment and the decline in productive activity that hits all sectors of Buenos Aires activity.
In fact, Lopez specified on Friday that national tax collection “does not find a floor” and noted that “in the first two months of 2026 it had the worst record in the last 15 years” and that March also shows negative indicators. As he explained, poor tax performance is directly related to the drop in salaries and low consumption of families.
The diagnosis of the head of the Treasury also included the evolution of registered employment. López specified that last year “106,232 registered jobs were lost” and that “since Milei took office, the net destruction exceeds 277,000” jobs. Along these lines, he stressed that “the most affected” is the province of Buenos Aires, where “36% of the lost positions are concentrated.”
The resources
In the midst of this panorama, the Kicillof government seeks to recover at least part of the resources that it judicially claimed from the Milei government before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation for program cuts, a drop in revenue collection, paralyzed works and direct debts.
Although the Buenos Aires administration initiated seven lawsuits in 2024, the highest court recently activated one: that of the transfers that ANSES stopped making to the Social Security Institute (IPS), the province’s retirement fund, after the application of decree 280/2024. According to the Executive’s calculation, the amount already exceeds $2.2 billion.
Last Tuesday, the Court opened a key instance in that dispute by holding a hearing in which it heard the parties and set a new meeting for next April 21. There is an expectation of moving towards an agreement like the one Córdoba signed last year, although the political confrontation between Milei and Kicillof makes it difficult to predict whether the dialogue will come to fruition. If that does not happen, we will have to see what the judges decide.
The debt is broader: according to the provincial Executive, 8.7 billion correspond to public works committed and never completed by the Nation; 3.8 billion to direct debts from the Fiscal Strengthening Fund (FOFOFI), pension transfers and the Teacher Incentive Fund (FONID) – among other funds provided by law – and 3.1 billion for the discontinuation of national programs. To this account are also added 4.3 billion due to the reduction in federal co-participation and 2.3 billion in loss of own collection as a consequence of the national economic plan.
