“Tackling inflation is Uruguay’s priority” said the International Monetary Fund board on Friday after inflation in October climbed to 9.1%. Monetary policy is not enough: the government must make efforts to cut back government spending and moderating wage growth insisted the IMF.
Uruguayan president Jose Mujica appealed to workers and entrepreneurs to avoid an escalation of salaries and prices which leads “to all sort of fiddling” as is happening in Argentina.
Inflation is a priority and is “decisively much higher than what authorities and public opinion would like” admitted Mario Bergara, Uruguay’s Central bank president during the opening on Monday of a two-day annual economic conference.
The US dollar suffered in Uruguay during October its greatest fall since January 2009 following on the increase of the Central bank basic rate to 9% at the end of September, which turned Uruguayan bonds far more attractive for foreign investors.
Uruguay’s central bank said that consumer prices, excluding the most volatile items, have increased almost 11% in the last twelve months to September. Fresh fruit and vegetables, cigarettes and public utility rates are considered ‘volatile prices’.
Uruguay’s consumer prices soared 1.21% in September over August totalling 6.67% in nine months and 8.64% in the last twelve months, above the 7.88% at the end of August.
The latest Uruguayan central bank decision to further hike interest rates is “unlikely to do much to tackle stubbornly high inflation” and contrary to this could end acting as a magnet for foreign capital inflow, “aggravating the very problem it seeks to address”, says Michael Henderson from Capital Economics.
Uruguay's central bank raised its benchmark interest rate 25 basis points to 9% on Friday in a bid to cool inflation expectations. The bank had held the rate steady at its last two monthly monetary policy meetings.
The Uruguayan economy experienced a slight deceleration in the second quarter of this year, but with an overall positive evolution. GDP increased 0.8% over the previous quarter and 3.8% over the same quarter a year ago, according to the latest release from the Central bank.
Consumer prices in Uruguay rose 0.93% during August, above expectations and leaving the Central bank with not much margin to apply counter measures. In the twelve months to August inflation was 7.88%, up from July’s 7.48%.