BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, March 2, (AP): Argentina’s libertarian president Javier Milei signaled late Saturday that a new deal with the International Monetary Fund was imminent, as he used his annual address to congress to project an optimistic picture of his economic overhaul following a divisive first year in office and recent swirl of controversies.

In a speech that played to the sentiments of his right-wing base but included little in the way of new policy, Milei promised the crisis-stricken nation that, in the coming days, he would "ask congress to support the government in this new agreement with the International Monetary Fund" even as it seemed Argentina had yet to close the deal.

Revisiting the economic themes of his 2023 presidential campaign ahead of crucial midterm elections in October, Milei declared: "We went from talking about hyperinflation to talking about long-term stability.” He cited his standard refrain about the government’s success in dragging down the monthly inflation rate from a peak of 26% in December 2023, when he entered office, to just over 2% in January, and in helping the country claw its way out of a painful recession.

"We have gone from being a global laughing stock ... to being an unexpected protagonist,” Milei said. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who waved a chainsaw gifted by Milei at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week in Washington, has cited the Argentine president’s approach as inspiration for his own rampage through American federal bureaucracy.

"The eyes of the world are now on Argentina after a long time,” he said. ”As is the case of Elon." On trade policy, Milei announced Argentina would leave the Mercosur bloc of South American nations if needed to clinch a free trade agreement with the United States. It marked Milei's latest effort to align his nation with US President Donald Trump's administration at the expense of Argentina’s previous allies and regional partnerships.

"To take advantage of this historic opportunity, we must be willing to make things more flexible or even, if necessary, to leave Mercosur,” he said. In his speech, Milei gave no further details about the supposed new financing deal with the Washington-based lender - a program his government has sought for months in order to help lift Argentina's strict capital and currency controls in hopes of reaping the benefits his free-market reforms, which, in 2024, delivered Argentina’s first fiscal surplus in 14 years.