Argentina’s Central Bank decreased the annual nominal benchmark interest rate to 50% on Thursday. In December, the Central Bank board decided that the annual benchmark interest rate would be equal to that of one-day repo transactions. The Central Bank deregulated the rest of the rates, such as those for fixed-term deposits, normally used by Argentines to escape currency fluctuations. With the benchmark interest rate at 50% and no Central Bank-imposed minimum rate, their nominal rate is expected to be close to 40%. With the lower interest rate, the government expects investors to buy the Letras Capitalizables (Lecap), a financial instrument issued by the Economy Ministry.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald May 03, 2024 10:58 UTC