ARGENTINA’S RIGI PROVINCES: HOW POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT LOOK TODAY. CAN SAN JUAN CAN BECOME THE "VACA MUERTA" OF THE MINING SECTOR? Quick read -Milei’s RIGI incentive regime has greenlit 27 projects worth roughly US$73 billion, expected to create more than 137,000 jobs across 10 provinces. INDEC data shows those provinces are starting from very different places. -Neuquén offers a preview. Poverty in the Neuquén-Plottier area dropped from 34.5% in 2016 to 19.6% in the first half of 2026, while unemployment fell from 6.7% to 3.2%, driven by a Vaca Muerta boom that predates the regime. -Greater San Juan has the highest poverty rate on the list at 38.2%. It’s also set to gain the most jobs from the RIGI, with 44,639 across four projects. Poverty | Unemployment | Committed RIGI investment 🛢️Neuquén-Plottier: 19.6% | 3.2% | US$28.06 billion ⛏️Greater San Juan: 38.2% | 3.2% | US$13.51 billion 🌊Viedma-Carmen de Patagones: 33.2% | 0.7% | US$19.72 billion (Río Negro only) 🏔️Salta: 34.1% | 4.3% | US$4.06 billion ⛰️Greater Catamarca: 33.4% | 6.4% | US$2.84 billion 🌵Jujuy-Palpalá: 35.7% | 3.4% | US$1.24 billion 🍇Greater Mendoza: 36.9% | 8.1% | US$1.10 billion 🇦🇷 Argentina: 32.3% | 7.9% What economists are watching -@FernandoMarull (FMyA) is betting on San Juan: “To me, San Juan is the next Vaca Muerta. In mining, obviously. And to a lesser degree, Salta and Catamarca.” -@GabCaamano (Outlier) says the RIGI is speeding up investment that was already coming. He cautions that poverty can tick up early on as job seekers flood in, as it did in Comodoro Rivadavia when oil took off: “That’s why you reduce poverty through growth.” -@smenescaldi (EcoGo) thinks living standards will very likely improve, though “it’s going to take time.” Early gains will be uneven, much like in Vaca Muerta, where oil workers’ paychecks have run up against a tight, pricey housing market: “It has its paradoxes.” (+) at @BloombergLineaA: bloomberglinea.com/latinoame…