Milei yields after more than two years of demands and increases the university budget

Javier Milei's government announced it would open additional budget lines for the operating costs and academic staff salaries of public universities. The El País Buenos Aires correspondent reported that the decision rests on a framework prepared by the Education Ministry and approved by the Treasury. The rector of the University of Buenos Aires said the announcement came after two years of demands and would ease short-term operational pressures.

Since Milei came to power, real funding for university budgets has fallen relative to inflation, triggering major nationwide protests. In 2024 and 2025 hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets and faculty members held strikes. Economists told El País that the political cost of the government's austerity programme has been accumulating.

Opposition parties and unions described the increase as insufficient but said the additional funds were a starting point. The Economy Ministry said the budget increase would not disturb fiscal deficit targets and that the spending would be financed through savings in other line items. The Argentine peso fluctuated slightly against the dollar after the announcement. This is not investment advice.