News of interest rates

Argentina takes steps to dollarise and holds key rate

17-01-2025 11:49 Argentina’s Central Bank said payment intermediaries will have to enable debit card transactions in US currency by February 28, marking a key step in President Javier Milei’s pledge to dollarise the economy.

INTEREST RATES

Central Bank lowers rate to 32% on price expectations

06-12-2024 00:10 Argentina’s Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to 32 percent as inflation expectations fall.

MONETARY POLICY

Central Bank lowers benchmark rate to 35% from 40%

01-11-2024 12:46 Argentina’s Central Bank lowers benchmark interest rate for the first time in nearly six months.

INTEREST RATES

Central Bank cuts rates to 50% as Milei wrestles inflation down

02-05-2024 14:04 Central Bank cuts key interest rate for the third time in three weeks as officials bet on a sustained slowdown in consumer prices.

INTEREST RATES CUT

Central Bank lowers key rate to 60%

25-04-2024 15:07 Policymakers at Argentina’s Central Bank lower interest rates to 60% from 70% as officials bet on a sustained slowdown of inflation.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Central Bank cuts interest rate to 70%, markets see inflation easing

12-04-2024 10:22 Argentina’s Central Bank cuts main interest rate to 70% from 80% – the third time since President Javier Milei took office.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Brazil economy grew 2.9% in 2023, says official data

01-03-2024 16:08 Brazil's economy expanded 2.9% in 2023 after a fourth quarter of zero growth, according to data released Friday by the IBGE national statistics agency.

MARKETS

Latin America’s quasi-sovereign companies attract bond investors

19-02-2024 14:09 State-owned companies across Latin America face falling output, cash woes and expensive investment plans. Yet bondholders can’t get enough.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Brazil’s economic activity caps 2023 with better-than expected growth

19-02-2024 14:05 Brazil’s economy grew more than expected in December, indicating activity is still showing some resilience to high interest rates as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva readies higher government spending.

MONETARY POLICY

Central Bank cuts key rate to 100% by swapping main policy tool

19-12-2023 08:25 Central Bank changes benchmark tool for monetary policy, replacing four-week notes with one-day transactions in a bid to lower borrowing costs.

INTEREST RATES

Central Bank hikes rate to 133% on inflation data

12-10-2023 23:39 Argentina’s Central Bank sharply raises key rate to 133%, sixth hike this year.

POLICYMAKERS MEET

Central Bank to keep key interest rate unchanged despite surging inflation

14-09-2023 00:46 Central Bank board will likely keep its key interest rate unchanged because policymakers expect slowing price pressures later on in the year.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Brazil inflation accelerated in August to 4.61%

12-09-2023 14:54 Brazil’s inflation rate rises for second straight month in the wake of trimming of rates by central bank, but food prices decrease.

Economy

Brazil’s economic activity tumbles past all forecasts

17-07-2023 19:57 Brazil's economy shrank more than expected in May, but President Lula's government's reforms and anticipated rate cuts have raised investor optimism.

MONETARY POLICY

Central Bank expects to hold benchmark rate through primary vote

05-07-2023 22:34 Economists surveyed by Argentina’s Central Bank see prices rising 149% annually by the end of this year and a 3% contraction in GDP.

ECONOMIC POLICY

First South American central bank to cut says caution needed

09-06-2023 12:31 Uruguay to keep restrictive policy even with more rate cuts; Economy will probably grow around 2% this year.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Brazil’s economic growth bounces back under Lula

01-06-2023 12:39 Brazil’s economy roared back in the first months of 2023, lifted by bumper harvests that outweighed the drag of double-digit borrowing costs.

FIGHT AGAINST INFLATION

Central Bank ramps up interest rate to 97% as inflation soars

15-05-2023 14:37 Argentina's Central Bank hiked its base interest rate Monday by six points to 97 percent, the first in a series of measures to tackle soaring inflation ahead of October's general election.

MONETARY POLICY

Central Bank to boost rates by 600 basis points as inflation soars

14-05-2023 11:55 Economy Minister Sergio Massa to announce new set of emergency measures, including raising Central Bank's key interest rate by 600 basis points to 97%.

INTEREST RATES

Brazil holds interest rate, citing 'resilient' inflation

04-05-2023 11:11 Brazilian Central Bank resists pressure from President Lula to trim interest rates and announces hold for six straight time.

MONETARY POLICY

Central Bank lifts rate to 81% as inflation jumps

20-04-2023 15:58 Argentina's Central Bank raises its benchmark interest rate by 300 basis points to 81% in response to March inflation data.

URUGUAY

Uruguay leads Latin America with first rate reduction

19-04-2023 21:06 Uruguay becomes first inflation-targeting country in Latin America to start lowering borrowing costs after economy entered technical recession towards end of last year.

REGIONAL ECONOMY

Latin America’s policy-makers warn investors of long fight against inflation

17-04-2023 17:08 Battle against inflation will take longer than expected, the region top economic authorities said at IMF Spring Meetings.

CENTRAL BANK

Argentina raises key rate to 78% for first time since September

16-03-2023 17:43 Argentina raised its benchmark rate on Thursday for the first time since September after annual inflation surpassed 100%.

CENTRAL BANK

Argentina considers first rate hike since September after inflation hit 103%

16-03-2023 08:58 Argentina’s Central Bank is considering raising its benchmark rate for the first time since September, according to two people with direct knowledge.

DEBT DEBATE

UN development chief sounds alarm over debt distress

06-03-2023 12:23 A top United NAtions official has warned that "urgent" measures are needed to help 52 countries, including Argentina, facing debt repayment problems that put some at risk of default.

BLOOMBERG - ANALYSIS

Argentina is buckling under strain of US$174-billion debt mountain

10-02-2023 14:36 Cut off from global credit markets, Argentina’s government is selling ever more local currency bonds, amassing a debt load that already totals 33 trillion pesos and is rising almost exponentially.

BRAZILIAN ECONOMY

Brazil holds rates and sounds the alarm on rising inflation bets

02-02-2023 00:03 Brazil’s Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged and expressed concern about the costs of taming rising inflation expectations that have been fuelled by tensions with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s new government.