Sergio Massa, Minister of Economy of Argentina, should go to China at the end of the month| Photo: EFE/Alejandro Prieto

The Ministry of Economy of Argentina announced this Sunday (14) a series of measures aimed at reducing inflation in the country, which in April alone was 8.4%, reaching an annual rate of 108.8%, and controlling the devaluation of the local currency.

One of the government’s main decisions in view of this scenario is to increase the interest rate by six percentage points, which will now be 97% per year for fixed terms, according to reports in the Argentine press. At the end of April, the Argentine Central Bank had already increased the interest rate from 81% to 91%.

The package of economic measures also provides for greater Central Bank intervention to manage the exchange rate, controlling the devaluation of the Argentine peso, which has already lost 35% of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year.

In addition, the Kirchnerist government wants to accelerate discussions with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and with the Brics countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on transactions with their own currencies in foreign trade.

The Minister of Finance, Sergio Massa, intends to go to China at the end of the month to negotiate the expansion of imports in Chinese currency and also to talk about the creation of a fund, linked to Banco do Brics, so that Brazil can finance purchases of Argentina, via export credit. The proposal was the subject of the visit of the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in early May.