BUENOS AIRES – President-elect Javier Milei said Monday that it could take between 18 and 24 months to bring Argentina’s rampant inflation under control as he laid out his plans to reform the economy.

Milei won a landslide victory in Sunday’s presidential election, beating Economy Minister Sergio Massa by 12 points on a promise to halt decades of unbridled government spending and “end Argentina’s decline.”

The 53-year-old outsider, who has been compared to former US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro for his aggressive style and controversial statements, vowed to “get the public finances in order very quickly.”

In a series of morning radio interviews laying out his vision, he said he had a “clear plan” to combat annual inflation, which has reached 140 percent, and a poverty rate of 40 percent.

During the campaign, Milei promised to replace the struggling peso with the U.S. dollar and abolish the central bank, which he said was fueling inflation by printing money to finance excessive government spending.

“The empirical evidence for the Argentine case is that if you reduce monetary issuance today, it takes between 18 and 24 months to destroy inflation,” he said.

Milei opposes abortion and proposes a referendum to revoke access to the procedure. She doesn’t believe humans are responsible for climate change.

But he has toned down his controversial rhetoric and focused on his plans to reform the state.

Milei said: “Anything that can fall into the hands of the private sector will be in the hands of the private sector,” including state oil company YPF and state media.

He said he would push for the removal of strict exchange controls – with analysts saying the peso’s official exchange rate to the dollar is an expensive fiction.

However, Milei said he would first try to pay off the debt issued by the central bank.

“If the central bank problem is not solved, the shadow of hyperinflation will always be with us,” he warned.

ARGENTINIANS CAN CHOOSE THE CURRENCY

When asked about his dollarization platform, Milei said the priority is “to close the central bank, then the currency will be the one that Argentines freely choose.”

Milei will take office on December 10, succeeding a country whose treasuries are in the red and whose incoming government is $44 billion in debt to the International Monetary Fund.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva congratulated Milei and said she looked forward to working with him “to develop and implement a strong plan to ensure macroeconomic stability and strengthen inclusive growth for all Argentines.”

Monday is a holiday, meaning the impact of Milei’s victory on the volatile peso has been delayed.

Argentina has tightly controlled the peso exchange rate and access to dollars in recent years, leading to a thriving black market for greenbacks.

The value of this so-called “blue dollar” is almost three times the official rate, and analysts warn that the peso is ripe for sharp devaluation.

Asked whether he would lift restrictions on foreign currency purchases in place since 2019, Milei said: “Maintaining the trap that is hindering the economy is not an option.”

Reactions were plentiful for the new leader of Latin America’s third-largest economy, including congratulations from Brazil and China – with whom he had previously vowed to cut ties, saying: “We don’t do business with communists.”

Milei has toned down much of his controversial rhetoric after winning the support of the center-right opposition, and it remains to be seen which of his measures will be implemented.

After Milei’s victory, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva wished the new Argentine government “good luck and success.”

But embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro criticized the president-elect, claiming Milei’s victory was a victory for the “extreme neo-Nazi right” and played into the hands of “US imperialism.”

“We respect the decision of the Argentine people,” said Maduro, whose re-election in 2018 was not recognized by several countries, including the United States, “and we simply call to reflect on the emergence of the far right that is seeking enforcement wants to enforce.” Return to the colonization of Latin America.

China said on Monday it would continue cooperation with Argentina and congratulated the president-elect on his victory.

“China has always attached great importance to the development of China-Argentina relations from a strategic and long-term perspective,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing.