LatinNews Daily - 15 September 2023

* Argentina’s central bank (BCRA) has held the country’s benchmark interest rate at 118%, despite inflation hitting new highs in August. The BCRA announced its decision to maintain the rate the day after Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec) released figures showing that monthly inflation in August stood at 12.4%, the sharpest monthly rise in over three decades, while annual inflation rose to 124.4%. In a press release, the BCRA attributed the jump in inflation to more volatile prices in the second half of the month and the devaluation of the peso in mid-August. The BCRA justified its decision to maintain the interest rate by stating there had been “a slowdown in the rate of increase in the consumer price index” since the peak in the third week of August, “which is reported to have deepened so far in September”.