‘This is a transformation, not failure,’ official says of Argentina’s huge rate hike
Argentina’s central bank has announced that it has raised its benchmark interest rate from 45% to 60%
Buenos Aires — Argentina’s central bank announced on Thursday that it has raised its benchmark interest rate from 45% to 60%, in a bid to arrest a slide in the value of its currency. Earlier, Marcos Pena, President Mauricio Macri’s cabinet chief, was forced to deny the government was facing an economic disaster. "We are not facing economic failure," said Pena. "This is a transformation, not failure. In that transformation there are difficult moments." The peso opened nearly 4% lower against the dollar on Thursday, having plummeted almost 7% the day before, despite explicit support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the government’s policies. The IMF’s backing, however, failed to bolster the currency, which has lost more than 45% of its value against the dollar since the beginning of 2018. IMF chief Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday that she had agreed to Macri’s request to speed up payments of a $50bn loan in a bid to shore up Argentina’s battered economy. Speaking at ...
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