Argentina's government collected $1.5 trillion for roads, spent only a quarter, holding over $1 trillion in investments

The Argentine government, led by President Javier Milei, has amassed over 1.5 trillion pesos in a trust fund designated for road infrastructure projects over the past two and a half years. However, a mere fraction of these collected funds, approximately one-quarter, has been utilized for their intended purpose.

As of late May, the government held over 1 trillion pesos in financial investments, including fixed-term deposits and public securities. This financial maneuvering centers around the "Integrated Road System" (SisVial), a subsystem of a trust established by decree in 2001. SisVial is legally mandated to collect a portion of the liquid fuel tax specifically for financing the construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of the nation's road network.

The Ministry of Economy oversees SisVial, with Banco Nación acting as the trustee. Funds are managed through a special current account, Account 330.902/9, where all revenue enters and expenditures for road projects theoretically originate. The legal framework strictly prohibits using these funds for any other budgetary expenses, a measure implemented at the behest of the World Bank to ensure the fuel tax revenue was dedicated solely to infrastructure.

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The tool was designed to tie the money to a specific destination and make it legally unavailable for other budgetary purposes.

Since Javier Milei assumed office, the rate of under-execution for SisVial has reached 73.8%. In 2024, only 11.3% of the collected funds were spent on projects. This figure rose to 39% in 2025, an election year marked by significant legislative activity, before dropping again to 18.5% in the first five months of 2026. Cumulatively, out of 1.503 trillion pesos collected, only 394 billion pesos have been executed for road works, leaving over 1 trillion pesos unallocated.

Further analysis reveals that the actual execution rate, when measured against a more restrictive denominator of funds that entered the specific Banco Nación account, does not exceed 36.5% for the entire period. If compared to the cost per kilometer derived from official bidding processes, the unspent funds could have financed the intervention of between 20,000 and 25,000 kilometers of the national road network.

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With the money that SisVial retains in financial investments, between 20,000 and 25,000 kilometers of the road network could have been intervened.