The congressional setback arrives as Milei's political party faces slumping popularity headed into a midterm election. Argentina's struggling President Javier Milei has suffered a new setback as Congress overturned his vetoes of laws increasing funding for public universities and for paediatric care. On Thursday, senators invalidated both vetoes, which had already been rejected by the Chamber of Deputies, bringing to three the number of laws upheld by Congress despite vehement opposition from the budget-slashing Milei.
Argentina's markets have tumbled, with the peso currency at a historic low, after a heavy defeat for President Javier Milei's party at the hands of the Peronist opposition at local elections stoked worries about the government's ability to implement its economic reform agenda. On Monday, the peso was last down almost 5 percent against the US dollar at 1,434 per greenback while the benchmark stock index fell 10.5 percent, and an index of Argentine stocks traded on United States exchanges lost more than 15 percent.
Iran's currency has been sharply depreciating again as European powers push to reinstate United Nations sanctions against the country amid stalled diplomacy and fears of war with Israel and the United States. The US dollar hit a price of more than 1.06 million rials in Tehran's open currency market on Monday, slightly higher than before Tehran and Washington started mediated negotiations in April.