Argentina Raises Interest Rate to...97%!
The Central Bank of Argentina raised its key interest rate Monday by six percentage points to 97% in an effort to tackle soaring inflation that has reached 30-year highs.
Central banks across the globe are struggling to rein in inflation, but it’s a particular problem in Argentina, where the annual inflation rate soared above 100% last month.
That’s the highest level since the early 1990s, and currently, Venezuela and Zimbabwe are the only two countries experiencing higher inflation than Argentina, according to International Monetary Fund data. (By comparison, inflation hovers below 5% in the US, where the central bank has raised key interest rates by five percentage points over 14 months.)
Argentina’s central bank is also hoping the rate hike will incentivize investments in the country’s currency, according to the central bank’s statement released Monday. The exorbitant inflation resulted in large outflows of investments held in the Argentine peso, leading to a 23% decline in its value against the US dollar this year.
Coming soon to a Country near you, you will own nothing and you will be thankful for that!