LatinNews Daily - 17 February 2025

*Argentina’s President Javier Milei has issued a decree ordering the start of the process to privatise Corredores Viales S.A., a public company responsible for operating roads and collecting tolls on major routes. In a statement, the presidential office stated that although some roads and highways in Argentina are managed by the private sector “previous governments insisted on sustaining this loss-making state company that cost our country some Ar$301bn [US$285m] in 2023 alone”. According to the statement, 3,400km of roads, equating to 45% of the national network, that are managed by the company “are not in optimal condition for vehicle circulation”. The government said this was proof that it is not the role of the state to manage highways and that, from now, the concessionaire will be the one responsible for carrying out the necessary works to obtain the right of charging the toll. Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has worked to reduce the size of the state in Argentina, privatising metallurgical firm Industrias Metalúrgicas Pescarmona (Impsa) in January and beginning the process to privatise others such as freight railway company Belgrano Cargas y Logística. He has also shuttered many state-run institutions such as the tax and the port authorities, creating new, smaller entities.