President Milei of Argentina, who had seen his popularity go largely unscathed despite tough economic program against inflation, is suddenly seeing a dip in his popularity. 

On Monday, Torcuato Di Tella University released a poll that found support for Mr. Milei’s government dropped 15 percent in September, marking the largest drop off in support since he took office.

Meanwhile, pollster Poliarquía found a seven percent decrease in support, and consultancy firm Proyeccion found positive views for the libertarian president’s government dropping to 44.8 percent as negative views reached 50.7 percent. 

In the nine months since his election, when he promised “drastic” changes to respond to Argentina’s inflation crisis, such as dollarizing the economy, cutting the size of the government, and ending the Central Bank, which he blamed for the soaring prices, Mr. Milei saw high approval rating hover around 50 percent even as he slashed government spending.

During his time in office, he has balanced the budget by taking measures such as ending subsidies for energy and transportation, keeping pensions at the same rates in the face of soaring prices, and ending financial transfers to provinces. And the measures have led to months of fiscal surpluses. 

Yet, the economic situation worsened for millions in Argentina since the chain-saw-wielding president took office. 

In January, the poverty level rose to 57.4 percent, according to a study by the Catholic University of Argentina, up from 40.1 percent in the first half of 2023. The study found 26 million people in the country are poor. 

Additionally, month-to-month inflation rose to 4.2 percent in August, which was higher than what experts expected. While the price hikes exceeded expectations, they were lower than the 4.6 rate in June, which ended a five-month streak of slowing inflation. 

Since the beginning of the year, prices have risen 94.8 percent and 236.7 percent compared to the previous 12 months. 

Despite the soaring prices and poverty rates, Mr. Milei’s popularity remained relatively unscathed until September. 

Polling firm Opina Argentina found in April Mr. Milei’s approval rating had dropped one percent from the previous month to 49 percent even as his austerity measures kicked in. And in August, polling firm Management & Fit found his popularity sitting at 52 percent.