The Senate defied the president by approving a pension increase to match the country’s triple-digit inflation rate.

Argentina’s President Javier Milei is set to veto a pension reform passed by the Senate in a move that is likely to widen the rift between the libertarian leader and the opposition-controlled Congress.

The Senate defied Milei to push through an increase to pension spending in line with the country’s triple-digit inflation, dealing a blow to his tough austerity programme.

The bill, which swept through the lower house in June, was passed by a 61-8 vote in the Senate on Thursday. All but one of the lawmakers who voted against the measure were from Milei’s party, a sign that the president’s allies had failed to negotiate with centrist parties.

Lawmakers could override his veto by passing the law with a two-thirds majority again.

“[The bill’s] only objective was to destroy the government’s economic programme,” Milei’s office said in a statement on X, as it would have required spending an extra 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

“The president promised Argentines that he would maintain a fiscal surplus at all costs, and he will,” his office said.