Argentine President Javier Milei's deeply controversial reforms bill to deregulate the economy was dealt a major setback in the congress on Tuesday when the package was prevented from advancing and sent back for a rewrite, legislators said.

Oscar Zago, leader of the ruling party faction, requested for the matter "to go back to committee," a motion passed by lawmakers that left the libertarian Milei's sweeping economic reform bill, including privatizations and revamping of the penal code, up in the air.