Axel Kicillof

Axel Kicillof (, born 25 September 1971) is an Argentine economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires Province since 2019. He is a member of the peronist left political coalition Homeland Force (formerly Union for the Homeland). Kicillof also served as Argentina's Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015, under the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Kicillof was instrumental in the 2012 renationalization of YPF. It was on his advice that Fernández de Kirchner decided not to meet holdout bondholder demands to be repaid what they were owed in 2014.

Kicillof has been a firm believer in Keynesian economics. A long-time professor of Economic Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, he is known for his unorthodox haircut and dress code.

Early life and education Kicillof is the second child of three siblings born to psychologist Nora Barenstein and psychoanalyst Daniel Kicillof; Kicillof was raised in the neighborhood of Recoleta. From 1984 to 1989, Kicillof attended the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. From 1990 to 1995, he studied at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). He graduated magna cum laude, receiving a Degree in Economics with a focus on the public sector. He was the top student in his class of 122. From 1997 to 2005, he pursued graduate studies at UBA, receiving a Doctorate in Economics. His doctoral dissertation, later published as a book, was titled Génesis y estructura de la Teoría General de Lord Keynes (Genesis and Structure of the General Theory of Lord Keynes).

At university, Kicillof was a prominent student leader. He was the head of the student organization Tontos pero No Tanto (TNT, Spanish for Dummies but Not That Much). As a student leader, he was "acclaimed by students like a rock star."

Career

Academic work Kicillof was an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Economic Sciences at UBA from 1998 to 2010. While he was a professor, Kicillof was noted for his anti-Kirchner and Keynesian writings on the website of CENDA (the Center for Argentine Development, a think tank that he headed). Some of these writings were later removed from the site. In 2003, Kicillof became the first head teaching assistant and later regular adjunct professor of economics II in the sociology track. He also taught economics at the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini, the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, and the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento.

At the postgraduate level, Kicillof was professor of economics in the masters and doctoral programs for social sciences at the Institute of Economic and Social Development at the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS-IDES). In the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO), he was the Professor of History of Economic Thought in the masters program for Public Policy for Development with Social Inclusion. Earlier, Kicillof taught economics in the masters and doctoral programs for Political Economics with the Argentinian Economy, specializing in two subjects, the History of Economic Thought and Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Fundamental Concepts of the Political Economy. Kicillof also taught a course entitled "Differentiation of Capital in the Field of Health" in the faculty of economics at the University of Buenos Aires. Since November 2010, Kicillof has been an assistant researcher for CONICET. At the Center of Studies for the Planning of Development (CEPLAD) at the Institute of Economics Research (University of Buenos Aires), he was appointed the deputy director and served from 2006 to 2010.

Economic views Kicillof is considered a heterodox economist, favoring an import substitution model over free trade. He has argued that there is no direct correlation between the money supply and inflation, and associates a trade surplus with stronger economic performance than a trade deficit. Commentators have criticized his approach, with Laura Di Marco of La Nación writing that Kicillof's "economic team" was "anchored in the ideology of TNT economists who believed and believe that the state" should aim to establish a post-capitalist "revolutionary utopia".

Other professional activities Between 1990 and 1995, Kicillof worked in various advisory capacities for National Motor Vehicle Transport Commission (CONTA), Tintorerías Ecológicas Dolphin System, the Eduardo Sívori Museum (pro bono), Transportes Vidal S.A., SARTOR S.A., CALED S.A., Molinari S.A., Clínica Cirugía Plástica, Centro Médico Bacigaluppi, Center for Education on Sexuality Research and Therapy (CETIS), Center for Urology and Male Health (CEUSA), among other clients. He was a part-time financial and information systems manager at the Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergies in 1990–95. He served as research assistant (1993) and junior economist at the Inter-American Center for Macroeconomic Studies from 1994 to 1995 and concurrently served as adviser on the National Commission for Promotion and Development of Patagonia in 1994.

In 1995–96, he served as adviser to the Undersecretariat of Technical Administrative Coordination in the Secretariat of Social Development. In 1997, he acted as technical consultant to the Minister Secretary General of the Executive Branch in connection with the development of the government's social plan for 1998–2000. In 1997–1998, he was a consultant to the consulting firm M-Unit. In 1998 he was a Project Manager for AperNet. In August 2009, Kicillof was appointed general manager of the Economic and Financial Area of Aerolíneas Argentinas, a position he held until February 2010, where he worked on the airline's 2011–2014 business plan. In December 2011, he joined the board of directors of Siderar, representing the shares held by Argentina's National Social Security Administration (ANSES).

Tenure as finance minister With the start of the second term of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner as president of Argentina, Kicillof was appointed Secretary for Economic Policy and Developmental Planning, integrating the organizational chart of officials of the Ministry of Economy and Public Finance of the Nation, which was headed by Hernán Lorenzino. After that, on 18 November 2013, Kicillof officially became Minister of Economy.

YPF Kicillof was instrumental in the renationalization of YPF. Fernández de Kirchner named Kicillof to the post of Secretary, or Deputy Minister, for Economic Policy and Development Planning in December 2011. He took academic leave to assume this post. He justified this action as part of a needed reversal of the Argentinian economic policies of the 1990s, when the peso had been pegged to the dollar and government assets had been sold off. He has been called "the ideologue of the expropriation of YPF". An agreement was ultimately reached with Repsol in November 2013, whereby the latter would be compensated for a 51% stake in YPF with approximately US$5 billion in 10-year corporate bonds.

Minister of Economy

On 18 November 2013, Fernández de Kirchner named Kicillof to the post of Minister of Economy. Newsweek reported in July 2014 that Kicillof enjoyed "the full backing of Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner".

Debt dispute

Kicillof was a central figure in the 2014 dispute with holdout bondholders, particularly with NML Capital Limited, the Cayman Islands-based hedge fund demanding US$832 million for Argentine bonds purchased for US$49 million in the secondary market in 2008.

On 3 July 2014, Newsweek reported that Argentina was "pinning its hopes on the star power and persuasive skills of its young economy minister, Axel Kicillof, to broker an 11th-hour deal." Noting his refusal to meet with the holdout creditors, who were based in New York, Newsweek stated that "even after a U.S. judge appointed mediator Daniel Pollack to assist Argentina in forging a long-awaited settlement with its unpaid creditors, Kicillof traveled to New York in late June – but only to give an explosive speech at the U.N. lambasting the U.S. courts for driving Argentina's economy to the brink." Meanwhile, Kicillof kept the holdout creditors "dangling". Newsweek stated: "Even if it was not a deliberate move to tweak Argentina's inflamed creditors, [Kicillof's trip to New York and speech at the U.N.] worked: for the past 30 days, hedge funds such as Elliott have stepped up the urgency of their rhetoric, exhorting Argentina in editorials and emails to the press to come to the negotiating table."

The president of Argentina's Central Bank, Juan Carlos Fábrega, advocated paying off the holdout creditors while Kicillof argued against it. Kicillof had asked Fernández de Kirchner to reject a "deal between NML and private bankers — who may have purchased NML's bonds." He called the deal "a scam with depositors' savings". The importance of “having sovereign debt process that is orderly and foreseeable” was ultimately adopted as Point 12 in the Brisbane G-20 Summit's 21-point declaration.

In a March 2015 statement, Kicillof contrasted the holdout creditors with "normal creditors" and predicted that other "vulture funds" would materialize and cause further problems for Argentina in the future. Kicillof accused Judge Thomas Griesa, who had ordered Argentina to pay the holdout creditors on their terms, of making "a legal stew" that prevented Argentina from paying other creditors. Griesa's numerous rulings attempting to block bondholder payments were described by Kicillof as "absurd rulings with limited effects". Citibank Argentina and numerous other banks both within and outside the U.S. had been improperly ordered by Griesa not to pay bondholders, and ultimately had the orders suspended or reversed by Griesa himself.

Congressman Kicillof as a National Deputy, speaking during the debate on the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy bill in 2018. Ahead of the 2015 general election, Kicillof was announced as the first candidate in the Front for Victory list to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies in the City of Buenos Aires. With 437,380 votes (22.37%), the FPV list came second, but with enough votes for Kicillof to make it past the D'Hondt cut and be elected.

As a national deputy, Kicillof formed part of the parliamentary commissions on commerce, finance, budgets, industry, Mercosur, regional economies, small and medium-sized enterprises, and tax norms; he also presided over the commission on economic affairs and served as secretary of the Permanent Bicameral Commission on Foreign Debt. In 2018, he voted in favor of the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill, which would have legalized abortion in Argentina. The bill passed the Chamber, but was later struck down by the Senate.

Kicillof authored bills to declare the access to water, gas, and electricity services a human right, promote formal employment to the Argentine transgender population, guarantee gender equality in employment, and formalize the Renovate, Ahora 12, PROCREAR and PROGRESAR programmes, flagship policies of his tenure as finance minister, among others.

Governor of Buenos Aires Province

Between 2016 and 2019, Kicillof and a close group of aides began a grassroots campaign across Buenos Aires Province, the largest and most populous of Argentina's 23 provinces. Traveling onboard a 2011 Renault Clio, he visited all 135 partidos in the province, meeting with local activists, supporters, and members of the general public.

Ahead of the 2019 Buenos Aires provincial election, Kicillof was nominated by the newly formed Frente de Todos coalition (formed by a majoritarian sector of the Justicialist Party and other peronist and progressive parties) as candidate to the governorship of Buenos Aires. The gubernatorial ticket was completed with La Matanza mayor Verónica Magario. Kicillof continued his travels onboard the 2011 Clio focusing his campaign on attacking the administration of incumbent governor María Eugenia Vidal, of the Cambiemos alliance, a close ally to president Mauricio Macri. Come election day, the Kicillof–Magario ticket received 52.15% of the votes, winning in a landslide against Vidal. He was sworn in as governor on 11 December 2019.

As part of the Union for the Homeland (UP) coalition, Kicillof and Magario were re-elected to a second term in the 2023 Buenos Aires provincial election on 22 October with 44.8% of the vote. Analysts pointed to Kicillof's successful re-election bid as a major factor in bolstering the shock victory of UP presidential hopeful Sergio Massa in the first round of 2023 Argentine general election. He was sworn-in for his second term on 11 December 2023.

Economic policy Soon after taking office in December 2019, Kicillof declared a "state of social, economic, productive, and energy emergency" in the province. The enabling legislation authorized the provincial executive to undertake debt exclusively for repaying existing obligations, up to a limit of $66 billion ARS. It also permitted the renegotiation of debts with bondholders and suppliers, the reallocation of budgetary items, a 180-day freeze on public utility rates, and the termination of public-sector contracts. Additionally, the law introduced tax debt moratoriums for micro-enterprises. The state of emergency was established for one year, renewable for a further year. In 2020, Kicillof proposed a tax reform that increased property tax rates on a progressive scale, ranging from 15% for the smallest contributors to 75% for the largest rural landowners.

In December 2023, another law proposed by Kicillof was approved, allowing urban and rural property taxes to be raised by up to 200% for high-wealth individuals, with a minimum increase of 130%. During the same legislative session, approval was granted for the province to borrow up to 1.8 billion dollars in 2024 to service its debt obligations. In 2024, following the national approval of the Law of Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines as part of President Javier Milei's government programme, the provincial government of Buenos Aires chose not to adhere to the national Large Investments Incentive Regime (RIGI). Instead, it proposed its own Strategic Investments Provincial Regime (; RPIE), which featured certain differences from the national framework.

2025 midterm elections

Ahead of the 2025 nationwide elections, Kicillof moved to separate the province's own legislative election from the national contest. The provincial legislature's decision to decouple the provincial vote from the national calendar was seen as a historical rarity. The official explanation was that separating the dates would be logistically easier as the province kept the party list ballot instead of the single list system that would be implemented for the first time in the October national contest. Politically, however, analysts widely interpreted the move as a strategic decision by Kicillof: by advancing the vote, Peronism could test its electoral strength, rally support, and potentially influence the national climate heading into October. In the September 2025 provincial midterms, Kicillof led the Peronist coalition Homeland Force to a decisive victory, securing close to 47% of the vote against La Libertad Avanza, which obtained about 34% province-wide.

Public image According to Clarín, Kicillof completed an ideological turn from teaching Marxist economics to the doctrine of Juan Perón, having joined the Justicialist Party and becoming vice president of the party. As governor, he was described by journalist Federico Rivas Molina as combining academic scholarship with overwhelming charisma. On 13 April 2021, he was unanimously acquitted by the Federal Chamber of Criminal Appeals for absence of crime, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Court of Argentina in 2024. Other accusations reported by the press did not advance in court, such as alleged irregularities during his time at Aerolíneas Argentinas, or purported links to private investment funds.

Publications Kicillof has published articles, both alone and in collaboration in a number of general publications, such as Clarín, La Nación, and Le Monde Diplomatique (Bolivian edition). De Smith a Keynes: siete lecciones de Historia del Pensamiento Económico. Un análisis de las obras originales. [From Smith to Keynes: Seven historical lessons in economic thought. An analysis of the original works.] Buenos Aires, EUDEBA, 2010. La macroeconomía después de la Convertibilidad. In CENDA, La anatomía del nuevo patrón de crecimiento y la encrucijada actual. La economía argentina período 2002-2010, Ed. Atuel. Buenos Aires, Colección Cara o Ceca, 2010. Co-authored with Agis, E.; Girard, C.; and Marongiu, F. They have two children.

He speaks English and French fluently. His younger sister, Irene, is a psychologist and translator. His older brother, Nicolás, is a software engineer who lives in New York City.

Electoral history Executive + Election Office List Votes Result . Total % . 2019 Governor of Buenos Aires Frente de Todos 5,274,511 52.40% 1st 2023 Unión por la Patria 4,233,092 44.88% 1st

Legislative + Election Office List District Votes Result . Total % . 2015 National Deputy Front for Victory 1 City of Buenos Aires 437,380 22.37% 2nd