President Javier Milei’s first cabinet meeting focused on the “reorganization of the state,” primarily through large public spending cuts and revising the contracts of all state employees to “detect irregularities,” presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said during brief remarks to press at the Casa Rosada presidential palace.

“The financial disarray was the headline of the meeting,” Adorni said.

Vice President Victoria Villarruel told the press as she left the meeting that it was “a general overview of what we’re facing, which is a really devastating situation.”

Milei and his cabinet met on Monday at 9 a.m. at the Casa Rosada, one day after the far-right economist’s inauguration. In addition to Villarruel, all ministers were present, along with General Secretary for the Presidency Karina Milei (who is Milei’s sister), Legal and Technical Secretary for the Presidency Javier Herrera Bravo, Chief of Staff Nicolás Posse, and Chamber of Deputies President Martín Menem, according to Adorni.

The Herald also saw future Central Bank chief Santiago Bausili enter the Casa Rosada minutes before the meeting started. However, he has yet to formally assume his functions. The current Central Bank authorities decided to pause exchange operations on Monday as they wait for the new team to arrive.

The government will move forward with “large fiscal cuts with certain expansion in social [welfare] spending,” which will be accompanied by “eliminating privileges,” Adorni said during the press conference.

“We are immersed in a deep and historical economic crisis, one of those crises that are recurrent in Argentina,” the spokesman said. “From time to time, we end up in an inflationary crisis,” he continued, which he said happens “when [the state] spends more than it has, and ends up emitting [money], which is what we are currently experiencing.”

The new government will carry out an “inventory” of state goods and workers, Adorni added. “We will revise each contract to find any irregularities,” including university contracts, he said.

The government will also require public employees to work all of their hours in person from now on, Adorni said.