00:00A burning vehicle, here in the streets of Buenos Aires, outside Argentina's congress.
00:07Police and protesters, some of whom threw bottles and rocks, clashed near the building
00:11as the Senate gave an initial green light to budget-slashing reforms.
00:16Demonstrators say the measures will negatively impact millions of people in the country.
00:21This law attacks all workers in Argentina.
00:25I am a retired teacher and I do not want to be the last generation of retirees in my family.
00:35This is a disastrous law for the Argentine people, where there is a labour reform without
00:40severance pay, where workers pay salary tax again.
00:45According to authorities, more than a dozen police officers were injured and several protesters
00:50arrested.
00:52Libertarian President Javier Mele proposed the reform package, which is key to his plan
00:57to overhaul the country's faltering economy.
01:00It includes slashing pensions, reducing labour rights and declaring a state of economic emergency.
01:07The upper house was divided down the middle over the wide-reaching bill, before the head
01:10of the chamber broke the tie.
01:16For those Argentinians who are suffering, who are waiting, who don't want to see their
01:23children leave the country, who are always thinking of everything for Argentina, I vote yes.
01:34The bill needs further approval from the upper house before it returns to the lower house
01:38for the final go-ahead.
01:40Mele came to office last year, pledging to cut public spending.
01:44He has since taken away fuel and transport subsidies, as well as 50,000 public jobs.
01:50Annual inflation in the country stands at almost 300% and more than half of the population
01:56are living in poverty.
