Uruguay's inflation rate rose in January 0.74% from December as housing, hotel and restaurant prices jumped, the national statistics agency, INE, reported this week. The consumer price index rose 8.05% on the year at the end of January, INE said.
Uruguay’s credit-rating outlook was raised on Thursday to positive by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited the government’s commitment to keeping its budget deficit in check.
Finance Minister Fernando Lorenzo said that Uruguay’s economy in 2011 expanded an estimated 6%, the ninth year running of sustained growth, and the budget fiscal deficit was 0.8% of GDP.
Uruguay’s central bank unexpectedly increased on Friday its benchmark interest rate by 75 points from 8% to 8.75%o as policy makers admit inflation, and mid term expectations remain notoriously over the target range and price stability is the main concern in “the current socio-economic context”.
Uruguay announced on Monday filed to issue up to two billion dollars in new global bonds maturing in 2028 and to conduct a series of liability management transactions designed to further improve its external debt profile, including an exchange offer and a cash tender offer for certain of its outstanding debt securities.
Uruguay’s Central bank sees “few probabilities” of a strong deceleration in emerging economies or a ‘significant’ fall in commodities prices even when lately there has been a drop in the value of grains although still above their historic average.
Uruguay has become a net creditor of the International Monetary Fund and given this condition has helped in the bailing out of such countries as Ireland and Angola, revealed a top authority of the Central Bank during a hearing before the country’s Senate’s Finance Committee.
The Uruguayan government will concentrate efforts in promoting economic growth, (debilitated in the second quarter), plus reducing domestic debt, even to the expense of “weakening the credibility of the inflation target”, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, EIU, from The Economist magazine.
Uruguay’s Central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged as policymakers focus on bringing inflation back to target in anticipation of possible impacts from a global slowdown.
Uruguay’s main economic consultants admitted they missed, and by quite a margin, their Uruguayan economy performance estimates for the second quarter which according to the Central bank only expanded 0.5%.