(Reuters) – Chile’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate on Thursday by 50 basis points to settle at 9.00% in a unanimous decision, as the South American nation’s monetary authority sees inflation pressures easing.
Annual inflation in the world’s largest copper-producing country has fallen faster than market expectations for months, ticking down to 5.1% in September from 5.3% the previous month and a peak of 14.1% in August 2022.
Chile’s central bank aggressively hiked the key interest rate by 1,075 basis points between July 2021 and October 2022 in a bid to beat back spiraling inflation and held it steady at a cycle-high of 11.25% until July’s widely-expected reduction.
The Andean country kicked off a monetary easing cycle in July with a larger-than-expected 100-basis-point rate cut and reduced rates again in September, but this time by 75 basis points.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by David Alire Garcia)
