A recent wave of economic prosperity in Argentina may have swept incumbent President Cristina Kirchner to a second term last weekend. But with the election now past, some observers are questioning how long Kirchner can maintain subsidy-heavy policies supporting her nation’s growth and, more importantly, how long she can hold onto the positive public opinion that has accompanied that growth.
Argentina’s economic success of recent years, says Karen Hooper, a Latin America analyst with the private intelligence company STRATFOR, “has been strong because of strong stimulus policies from the government.”
Such policies center largely on subsidies for energy and food, along with strict currency controls and restrictions on foreign direct investment, and fall under a wider populist program pursued in the aftermath of Argentina’s early-2000s economic collapse by Kirchner’s late husband, former President Néstor Kirchner.