Luis Caputo on pensions: "The average income of those who did contribute is almost 900,000 pesos."

Economy Minister Luis Caputo stated that the average pension for someone who contributed is $900,000 , while a percentage of this sector earns more than a million pesos if pensions are also included. With this assertion, the Minister of Finance defended his administration and the increases granted to retirees, one of the sectors hardest hit by the government 's adjustments.

" In dollars, retirees are much better off. I think at the end of Cristina's administration, they weren't even earning $80. Now they're earning more than triple that ," the leader emphasized, adding that since Javier Milei became president, "pensions have recovered 15% in real terms, in terms of purchasing power."

In this context, Luis Caputo drew a distinction between retirees who contributed and those who didn't, the vast majority of whom were able to access a retirement moratorium during the Kirchner administration. "Ninety percent of those who receive the minimum pension are those who didn't contribute. The average income of those who did contribute is almost triple, almost 900,000 pesos , and a good percentage of them also receive a pension, putting them above the million mark," he stated on LN+.

The head of the Treasury also attributed part of the pension problems to the excessive growth of beneficiaries in the last decade: "Kirchnerism retired 3,900,000 people without the corresponding contributions , while the level of employment and contributors has not grown since 2011. They tripled the number of retirees with the same contributor base. Naturally, there isn't enough money," he explained.

To put this into context, a minimum-income retiree in Argentina received $309,294.79 in July, plus an extraordinary $70,000 bonus exclusive to those in the lowest retirement bracket. Those earning more are not eligible to receive this extra bonus.

One point to keep in mind is that in July, pensions increased by 1.5%, proportional to the previous month's inflation rate, according to INDEC (National Institute of Statistics and Census). This is intended to maintain pension levels in real terms. Of the total, an estimated 1.8 million retirees in Argentina receive this monthly increase, as all other people in the system would have contributed and met all the requirements and would receive more than the minimum wage.