ContextRemarks by OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann on the occassion of Argentina Week.
Why it mattersIt marks the OECD's assessment that Argentina's sharp disinflation and deregulation must now prove durable across political cycles, with accession standards as the anchor.
- Argentina must turn recent gains into lasting growth.
- Informal work and skill gaps limit opportunity.
- Investors doubt reforms will survive political cycles.
- Keep up the reform momentum.
- Build pathways into formal jobs and lifelong learning.
- Anchor reforms in shared, independently reviewed OECD standards.
Read the speech summary
1. Argentina's assets in a changing world
Welcoming Argentina's President and government to the OECD during Argentina Week, Secretary-General Mathias Cormann argued that global trends now favour what the country has: farmland that makes it a top grain and soybean exporter, roughly a fifth of known lithium resources, strong wind and sun, and a software, engineering and biotech sector that exports. Supply-chain rethinking, food and energy security, the energy transition and AI all raise the value of those assets, but only stable macroeconomics, predictable rules, contract enforcement, competition and openness turn them into prosperity.
2. The turnaround so far
From 2011 to 2025 Argentina grew by only about 0.8% a year, labour productivity shrank and inflation hit 220% in 2024. Since then, a large fiscal adjustment restored a primary surplus, currency controls were largely lifted, competition barriers fell and trade opened; growth resumed in 2025 and the OECD expects 2.6% in 2026 and 3% in 2027. Its regulation index shows Argentina moving from one of the most restrictive of 48 economies in 2018 to one of the biggest improvers by 2025.
3. Four priorities and the role of accession
He recommends further deregulation, which could raise potential output by 6.8% and jobs by 2.2% by 2050; better schooling, since only a quarter of students reach basic maths level against nearly two-thirds in the OECD; deeper capital markets through governance reform; and more trade integration, intellectual property protection and responsible mining and energy. Accession, reviewed by 25 committees, would show investors that reforms can survive changes of government.