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ECONOMY | 30-01-2020 21:29

Central Bank cuts key interest rate for fifth time since December 10

Rate floor cut to 48 percent on Thursday from 50 percent. Central bank chief Miguel Pesce has lowered it from 63 percent since taking office December 10.

The Central Bank has lowered the floor of its benchmark interest rate for the fifth time under President Alberto Fernández in an effort to stimulate growth and make credit more accessible.

The rate floor was cut to 48 percent on Thursday from 50 percent. Central bank chief Miguel Pesce has lowered it from 63 percent since taking office December 10.

Pesce changed the Central Bank’s priorities after the previous government failed to cool inflation. Consumer prices continued to rise more than 50 percent a year under former president Mauricio Macri even as interest rates skyrocketed and policy makers froze the amount of money in circulation.

Argentina’s economy is expected to contract in 2020 for the third straight year while wages lag behind inflation and private-sector employment remains at multi-year lows.

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by Patrick Gillespie & Scott Squires

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