Javier Milei’s administration announced it would restructure the National Mint and shut down one of its printing companies while its workers protested in front of the building. In his Thursday press conference, Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni referred to the Mint as “a state-owned printing company with severe inefficiencies.”

According to Adorni, the previous administration’s management of the Mint was “a real waste of resources, with debts that today amount to US$ 371 million; a negative equity of US$78 million and a negative gross result of US$20.5 million.”

Argentina’s Mint is a state-owned company called Casa de la Moneda which falls under the Economy Ministry’s purview. It owns two printing presses, one located in Retiro, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires City, and the other in Don Torcuato, a city in Buenos Aires province. Both can print banknotes. The Don Torcuato press, which was originally a private company expropriated in 2012, is the one destined for closure.

Adorni had caused a media uproar on Tuesday with a since-deleted post on X: “It has been decided that the Mint will be closed. The end.” On Thursday, he said that the episode happened because the decision “merited a slightly more extensive explanation, nothing else.”

The government has consistently maintained that over-issuance is the single cause of Argentina’s record-high inflation.” Mint restructuring is the final nail in the inflation coffin,” Adorni said. He accused the previous administration of “delirium,” claiming it spent US$4.7 billion on importing banknotes while the Mint “should have supplied Argentina with these banknotes.” The Herald could not independently verify those numbers.

However, this administration’s Central Bank held two private auctions excluding Casa de la Moneda for printing new AR$10,000 and AR$20,000 banknotes. They were awarded to a Maltese private company, Crane Currency Malta Limited, and the Chinese state-owned Mint, the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation. In total, the current government will spend US$50.3 million for printing AR$10,000 and AR$20,000 banknotes for the second half of 2024 and AR$20,000 bills for the first half of 2025.

The Central Bank allegedly snubbed the Casa de la Moneda because it looked for the best price and it is not obliged to hire the state-owned company, the Herald learned. Two sources close to the matter said the Mint’s operations are compromised due to debts with suppliers. In 2023, the Mint had a AR$422.8 billion deficit: 70% of that debt was allegedly due to investing in new machinery, including a new production line.

While Adorni was announcing the restructuring of the Mint, the State Workers Association (ATE) held a demonstration in front of the building. “When we held a strike at the airports, the government talked about a ‘savage strike.’ This government has no idea what a savage strike is. If it closes the Mint, it is going to start to realize it,” Rodolfo Aguiar, General Secretary of the union, said during the demonstration.

“They want to close an organism that has highly qualified workers and the latest technology,” Aguiar added. “It is incomprehensible that banknotes are not printed here. They want to do business with multinationals.”