Uruguay announced on Thursday new measures to discourage short term speculative capital inflows that have appreciated the Peso, eroded the country’s international competitiveness, made imports cheaper than domestic production and threaten an already stubborn inflation.
Uruguay's main economic problem is high inflation, and policymakers will continue to use interest rates and bank reserve requirements to bring it under control, Vice President Danilo Astori said on Tuesday. Consumer prices in Uruguay rose 8.14% in the 12 months through April, far outside the country's official annual target range of 4 to 6%.
Inflation in Uruguay during April slowed down for third month running, according to the latest release from the country’s Statistics Office, INE. Consumer prices in the fourth month of the year climbed 0.45% with inflation in the last twelve months reaching 8.14%, compare to 8.54% in March.
Uruguay’ financial and political stability is backfiring as the Central bank is forced to buy a massive inflow of foreign capital which in turn creates an abundance of Pesos that need to be absorbed to control inflation and support the competitive edge of the country’s exports.
Uruguay’s GDP expanded 3.9% last in 2012 over the previous year despite a slight contraction in the fourth quarter, according to a late Wednesday release from the Central bank. The bank’s original estimate was 4%. In 2011 the economy grew a revised 6.5%.
Uruguay’s central bank surprised the market by keeping on hold the benchmark interest rate at 9.25% after increases at the two previous monetary policy meetings failed to slow inflation, one of the country’s main concerns.
The Uruguayan economy expanded between 3% and 3.5% last year which is below the 5.7% of 2011, mostly because of a serious drought and a deteriorating world situation, advanced the country’s Central bank president Mario Bergara.
Uruguay's central bank announced on Wednesday it will raise marginal reserve requirements on local and foreign currency deposits from April 1 as part of its effort to bring inflation within the official target range, which has been missed in the last three years.
The Consumer Price Index, CPI, in Uruguay climbed 0.99% during February, accumulating 2.91% in the first two months of the year, and 8.89% in the last twelve months, far above the government’s target of 4% to 6%, according to the National Institute of Statistics, INE Monday release.
Two contrasting views have surfaced in the Uruguayan government regarding inflation which has been steadily climbing and seems so far immune to monetary tools, but is now the second highest in the region behind Argentina.