Chile, the world’s top copper producer, saw red metal exports reach a total of $3.36 billion in July, a 2.8% decrease from the previous year, according to the central bank.
Chile also reported a trade surplus of $814 million for the month.
Earlier, Chile’s central bank decided to cut its referential interest rate by 100 base points to 10.25%, above what was expected by the market, at the beginning of an expected reduction cycle due to lower inflationary pressures.
The Andean country’s central bank was the first in Latin America to cut its interest rate.
Chile’s central bank kept the TPM at the technical maximum of 11.25% for nine months to contain the strong inflationary pressure that caused the rapid recovery of activity after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The performance of activity and demand does not show significant differences from what was expected. However, inflation declined somewhat quicker than envisaged in the central scenario of the Monetary Policy Report (IPoM),” the central bank stated in an official statement.
