Argentina: Milei Promises More Benefits, but Investors Should Monitor Political Sustainability

What happened: President Javier Milei introduced a new regime, “Super RIGI,” to attract investment in new sectors that add value to natural resources downstream.

Why it matters: This is a new step to push Milei’s investment-driven program, but it contradicts his promise to expand the benefits to the entire economy and make them permanent.

What happens next: Congress will be reluctant to authorize new large benefits for business, while potential investors will be more concerned about political sustainability post-2027 than new extra tax cut promises.

On 7 May, President Javier Milei said that he would send a bill to Congress to create a “Super RIGI,” a powered-up version of his administration’s signature program to promote large investment projects in key sectors of the economy.

The Large Investments Incentive Regime (RIGI) has been one of Milei’s most successful policy moves. Since Congress passed it as part of the omnibus Bases Act in June 2024, it has attracted 36 projects totaling investment commitments of $84bn. Economy Minister Luis Caputo (see our Featured Personality) and his team have authorized 12 of them and are reviewing the rest. His Energy and Mining Coordinator, Daniel Gonzalez, is in charge of drafting the Super RIGI bill.

RIGI gives investors 30-year tax breaks and a legal guarantee that they will have access to the foreign exchange market to expatriate earnings, one traditional blot on Argentina’s economy. The program applies to a limited number of sectors, including oil & gas, mining, infrastructure, tourism and steelmaking. Of the projects submitted, 90% belong to the energy and mining sectors.

RIGI Plus

Milei wants to expand the winning formula to new sectors, particularly downstream natural resources development. Caputo mentioned lithium battery manufacturing, electric vehicles, the uranium supply chain and solar panels as examples. The final list of sectors is still not written in stone, and our contacts say more could be added.

The Super RIGI benefits would continue the pattern established by the original program, but would be even more generous. For instance, income tax would be cut from 25% under the original RIGI (down from 35% in the general law) to 15%. It will also include more accelerated depreciation and greater flexibility to import goods.

Reluctant Congress

Milei rushed to announce the new program before having a final draft (which is unlikely to be ready before early June), because he needed to divert attention from a corruption scandal involving cabinet chief Manuel Adorni, who is facing charges of embezzlement (see our 16 April 2026 Latest Analysis).

In our view, however, the bill will struggle to garner support once in Congress. The original RIGI bill was one of the most contested items in the Bases Act, which Congress debated during Milei’s honeymoon period in early 2024. It passed thanks to the support of oil & gas and mining provinces, which saw a direct benefit in attracting business immediately.

Even with the ruling La Libertad Avanza now controlling around a third of the seats in both chambers, the moderate opposition Milei needs to pass Super Rigi will be reluctant to grant more tax breaks to large companies and investors because the benefits of the incipient investment boom have not yet reached the majority of Argentines. If the bill does pass, it will not happen quickly.

Nothing Short-Term

Super RIGI should not have major short-term implications for investment decisions, which depend more on Milei’s overall economic program consolidation than on promises of new benefits.

A more pressing question for investors is whether the original RIGI will survive if Milei does not win reelection in 2027. Our baseline scenario is that the next presidential race will be tight, which current polls support. A Peronist government would surely not extend the RIGI program, which currently expires in early 2027, and could possibly also seek to renegotiate some of the terms of the benefits already awarded.

This means that even if the “Super RIGI” bill passes, a more defining issue for investors looking into the new sectors that Milei and Caputo are targeting is continuity rather than a deepening of the policies.

In our view, the RIGI rerun also goes in the opposite direction of what would improve the investment environment: Instead of creating a new exception bubble that is more beneficial than the original RIGI, the Milei government should try to expand it to the entire economy, delivering across-the-board tax breaks and FX market access. If it does not, it risks further fragmenting Argentina’s economy, which could trigger a political backlash. The scheme that brought Milei to where he is now might not be the best fit for the next stage of his reform agenda.