Economics

Argentina Boosts Key Rate to 60% as Inflation Soars Toward 70%

  • Central bank move marks the largest rate hike in three years
  • IMF deal calls for Argentina to keep key rate above inflation

The Central Bank of Argentina in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. 

Photographer: Sarah Pabst/Bloomberg
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Argentina’s central bank delivered an outsize 800 basis-point hike to its benchmark interest rate, the largest in three years, as inflation accelerates amid a growing political crisis.

The monetary authority increased its benchmark Leliq rate to 60%, it said in a statement on Thursday. The effective annual rate, which accounts for compounded interest, reached 79.8%.