WASHINGTON: Argentina’s central bank announced it would boost banks’ reserve requirements in a bid to cut sky-high inflation in Latin America’s third-largest economy. The central bank said it would raise reserve requirements for in-demand deposits by 2.5 percentage points in June and again in July from its current 17 percent level. Requirements for fixed-term deposits will increase 1.5 percentage points next month, and again the following month, from 13 percent currently, the bank said in a statement.
Center-right President Mauricio Macri took office in December promising to tackle a yawning fiscal deficit and dizzying inflation. Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay has said the pace of consumer price gains should fall to just over 1 percent by the end of the year. But private data this month showed monthly inflation in Argentina’s main population center of Buenos Aires approached 7 percent in April.
