BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Oct 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Argentina's embattled President Javier Milei on Monday sought to revive his rockstar persona by teasing a gig to mark the release of his latest book on his auto-proclaimed economic "miracle."

"The Making of the Miracle: the Argentine case," a 573-page tome composed mostly of Milei's speeches from the past year, is being released at the bumpiest juncture in his nearly two-year-old presidency.

Milei hopes the book, to be launched at a rock concert on Monday evening that he will headline, will boost his fortunes ahead of October 26 national mid-terms, in which his minority party is hoping to boost its seat tally.

Last month, the right-wing leader was forced to go cap in hand to Washington for financial assistance to end a run on the Argentine peso that was sparked by concerns over his reform agenda following a major election defeat in Buenos Aires polls.

Last week, Congress overturned his vetoes of spending increases for public universities and emergency pediatric care, jeopardizing his sacrosanct zero-deficit goal.

Then on Sunday, one of his top candidates in the mid-terms bowed out of the race due to his links to suspected drug traffickers.

On Monday afternoon, Milei posted a video on Instagram of himself, clad in his trademark leather jacket, his hair dishevelled, getting ready for the gig at the 15,000-capacity Movistar Arena.

"I'm the most liberal/You can't step on me because I'm capitalist," he sang, in a riff on the "Tu Vicio" (Your Vice) standard by Argentine rocker Charly Garcia.

His euphoria contrasted with the mood of residents in the middle-class neighborhood of Villa Crespo, where the venue is situated.

Police erected a ring of steel around the concert hall, to prevent clashes between anti- and pro-Milei demonstrators.

A banner erected on a nearby street slammed the sharp downturn in consumer spending since Milei took power in December 2023 and began slashing public spending.

"Milei, it's a miracle anyone comes in to buy anything," it read.

While campaigning last month in a low-income neighborhood of Buenos Aires he was pelted with stones.

- 'Individualism' rocks -

"The Making of the Miracle" is the 14th book by Milei, an economist and former TV pundit, who won office as a political outsider on a mission to end corruption and revive Argentina's economy.

He was the toast of the global right, hailed from lowering annual inflation from over 200 percent at the end of 2023 to 33 percent in August, and for balancing the budget for the first time in 14 years last year.

But his drastic austerity policies have left many of Argentina's most vulnerable on the breadline.

In the prologue to Milei's book, his drummer and fellow economist, Bertie Benegas Lynch, cheered the 54-year-old frontman.

Milei, he wrote, had shown "that only self-interest and individualism make peace and prosperity flourish."