The pillar, in detail
Deregulation and opening
17,606
articles amended or repealed · official counter, Sep-2026 verif Sep 2026 ↗
Pillar statusON TRACKTrend▲ improving
The latest figure meets the promise we measure on this pillar.
What was promised
Regulatory chainsaw: eliminate rules, open imports, simplify the State (Sturzenegger).
Where it stands today
807 deregulation measures / 2,891 regulations amended or repealed / 17,606 articles (cumulative total to September 2026), according to the official counter of the Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation. In the month it added 37 measures, 50 regulations and 491 articles. The 17,606 are articles amended or repealed: the official filter counts substitutions and amendments, not only repeals. And the ministry itself declares them a lower bound — the content of 40 affected measures is not online. verif Sep 2026 ↗
The historical series
Our reading
Trend▲ improving (editorial reading, anchored to the data)
Rule we apply opening and deregulation
What it enables if sustained thesis
17,606 fewer articles → the compliance cost that weighed most on small businesses without a legal department falls → starting a business gets genuinely cheaper (the regulatory chainsaw benefits the small player most). R4+R10
Import opening → incumbents lose the rent of protection → gaps open for entrants (e.g. OCTG: Welspun vs Tenaris, already mapped in opportunities). R4
Fewer discretionary permits = fewer windows → lower institutional cost, which country risk also prices (Country-risk pillar). R4+R1
What we watchJudicial reversal of reforms (precedent: the labor chapter of DNU 70/2023, declared unconstitutional by the CNAT on 30-Jan-2024 with no Supreme Court ruling) -> degrades R2, R4. ⚠️ METHOD GAP MEASURED ON 2026-08-11 thesis: the official methodology discounts what CONGRESS restores and says nothing about JUDICIAL suspension ⇒ a measure whose effect has been halted by the courts is still counted within the counter's total (16,771 when measured, 17,606 as of September 2026). Title IV of the DNU is the live case. The bias is small in that case (~0.5% of the total, an unsealed order of magnitude), but the direction matters and there is a sizeable precedent: Chequeado measured 12% of measures halted by court decisions out of 160 analyzed.
Policies and rules related to this pillar27
We do not attribute this indicator to a single rule. Here we gather the policies and rules we track because they can affect the conditions related to this pillar, each with its status and its source.
Imports: prior approval to bring in goods is eliminatedRes. 1/2023 Trade Secretariat + Joint GR AFIP-Trade 5466/2023 (Official Gazette Dec 26, 2023)in force
Argentina and the US sign their first trade and investment agreementBilateral agreement signed Feb 5, 2026 (no number; pending congressional approval)pending
Hydrocarbons: the pre-export local offer fallsSE Res. 166/2026 (Official Gazette, Jul 22, 2026)in force
The RAF stops being an automotive privilege: tax-suspended inputs for all of industryDNU 252/2026 (Official Gazette Apr 17, 2026)in force
Private car imports: new routes of entry are openedDecreto 196/2025 + Res. SIyC 222 and 271/2025in force
Certifications: approval from a reference country is accepted, with no repeat processDecreto 892/2025 (Official Gazette, Dec 17, 2025)in force
Used machinery imports: 25% of the tariff, less red tapeDecreto 483/2026 (Official Gazette, Jun 23, 2026)in force
Mining: imports by sworn statement and declarative fiscal stabilityDecreto 482/2026 (Official Gazette Jun 23, 2026)in force
Mining: new procedure for VAT refundsJoint Gen. Res. ARCA-Mining Secretariat 5878/2026 (Official Gazette, Jul 23, 2026)in force
The mandatory biofuel blend goes up, and the market stops being closedFirst-round approval by the Senate, Sep 17, 2026 (41-25) · in the Chamber of Deputiespending
Satellite internet: Starlink, Kuiper and OneWeb come inDNU 70/2023 + ENACOM Res. 1 to 4/2024in force
Hidrovía: the deregulation Congress stoppedDNU 340/2025 (rejected; reversed by Decreto 628/2025)pending
Winemaking: the National Wine Institute repeals the bulk of its rulesINV Resolución 37/2025 (RESOL-2025-37-APN-INV#MEC)in force
First energy privatization closed: Transener goes private for USD 356 MRes. 673/2026 MECON (Official Gazette, May 12, 2026) + Res. 130/2026 ENReGEin execution
Payments abroad: a tax-residence certificate replaces the sworn statement certified by the foreign tax authorityARCA GR 5855/2026 (Official Gazette June 3, 2026)in force
Markets linked to this pillar3
These markets belong to sectors whose activity also shows up in relation to this pillar. We show them to connect the aggregate indicator with concrete markets for goods and services that we track in the large projects. Their presence here does not mean this indicator is the cause of that demand.
Which part of this can reach your company?
The pillar shows the economic context. For a company we run a different cross-check: which projects buy what you make, who buys, when that purchase appears and what you would need to prepare to get in.
Where my company can get inHow often it is updated
Frequency
monthly
Lag
~5 days after the period closes
Latest period published
2026-09
Who publishes it
Web counter of the Ministry of Deregulation. It has no published calendar; we review it roughly monthly.
Built on the official source of each figure, with the gaps declared. Back to the program pillars
Analysis and curation: Ignacio Aredez
Head of Despegue
Method and track record →- 20+ years in technology, 15 of them in data and AI, for clients across Europe and the Americas
- Certified in AI governance (ISO/IEC 42001)
- Machine Learning (Google Cloud)
- Registered expert with the European Commission
How to read the seals →
verif primary source · prob primary source pending · unconf a source said it · estim our own calculation · thesis our reading · the date belongs to the datum, at the precision its source allows