Argentina central bank hikes key rate to 133% as inflation worsens
Argentina central bank hikes key rate to 133% as inflation worsens
Argentina's central bank raised the country's benchmark interest rate to 133% from 118% on Thursday as inflation data came in worse than forecast, 10 days before voters go to the polls to choose a new president amid a deepening economic crisis.
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BUENOS AIRES, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Argentina's central bank raised the country's benchmark interest rate to 133% from 118% on Thursday as inflation data came in worse than forecast, 10 days before voters go to the polls to choose a new president amid a deepening economic crisis.
The hike came shortly after September inflation figures were released, landing above expectations at 12.7% monthly and 138% annually, worsening surging prices that have sapped wages and savings and pushed two out of every five people in Argentina below the poverty line.
Some commentators questioned whether the latest hike was too late amid a worsening economic scenario.
The impacts of inflation has been worsened by the government's near-18% devaluation of the peso in mid-August, which coincided with the prior central bank hike, where it increased the interest rate from 97% to 118%.
Voters will be choosing who to succeed outgoing leftist President Alberto Fernandez, with radical libertarian Javier Milei seen as the front-runner due to his shock first-place showing in the August primary.
Milei, who is seeking to shut the central bank and dollarize the economy to tame inflation, recently recommended depositors avoid renewing bank holdings in pesos, arguing that the peso does not even serve as "excrement."
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