The central bank of Argentina (BCRA, for its acronym in Spanish) raised the basic interest rate by 5.5 percentage points, from 69.5% to 75% per year, this Thursday (16).
The rise comes in the wake of an escalation of inflation in the country. In the last month of August, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) reached the level of 78.5% in the annual comparison.
This was the 9th consecutive monthly increase carried out by the municipality, which wants to continue “to calibrate the interest rate according to the ongoing monetary policy normalization process”, the BCRA said in an official note, “paying special attention to the evolution of the general level of interest. prices and the dynamics of the foreign exchange market”.
Argentina is struggling with a prolonged economic crisis, marked by high levels of inflation, a devalued currency in parallel markets and a lack of liquidity to pay off debts and a shortage of international reserves. According to research published by the BCRA last week, it is possible that the annual basis for inflation will reach 95% by the end of 2022.
In the last two months, increases in the benchmark interest rate, the Leliq, were 8 and 9.5 pp, respectively.
*With information from Reuters
Source: CNN Brasil
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