Latin America's leaders are desperately trying to combat inflation. The region has some of the highest interest rates in the world. Mexico's Central Bank made a record rate hike this week.
The resource-rich region's struggle to tamp down prices, despite the aggressive tightening of monetary policy, sends a warning globally about how tough inflation busting will be.
In Ecuador, indigenous groups are leading major protests that have at times turned violent against the government of President Guillermo Lasso, complaining about high food and gas prices. Rising costs have also stoked unrest in Peru.
The Bank of Mexico on Thursday implemented a record rate hike and signaled more were in the pipeline with annual inflation at a 21-year high. Brazil hiked rates last week and Argentina did a 300 basis point hike to 52% earlier in June.
But inflation has continued to climb, hitting ordinary Latin Americans in a region where labor informality is high, food and fuel make up a huge chunk of family budgets and there is stark inequality.
Source: reuters.com
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