In May 2002, during the presidency of Eduardo Duhalde and at the height of the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression, she became part of Lavagna's team as a representative of the Ministry of Economy before the Central Bank.

Argentina's economy grew by an annual 9% during 2004 and 2005, but average wages in real terms did not recover to the level before the 2002 devaluation of the Argentine peso until 2006,[6] and income poverty, though greatly reduced, remained high by historical standards.

Miceli expressed her intention of conducting a comprehensive tax reform, and reviewing the performance of the private retirement pension fund system, which she considered a failure.

Upon her designation, the Argentine markets reacted briefly with surprise; the MerVal index of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange fell by 4.5% and the price of the dollar rose slightly.

The Argentine peso bills, however, were sealed in a special numbered wrapper issued by the Central Bank, and were traced to a financial firm that did not have records of the withdrawing of any such amount, and did not count Miceli or her brother as clients.