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00:00So give us a sense of what the central bank governor and for that matter, the government there is confronting in their economy. David, it's a beautiful day here in Chile. And behind me, as you say, is up by last year and I'm on there. And on the corner there, you can see the central bank as well. Really clouding the outlook for the Chile, though, is high inflation. We're talking about double digit inflation accelerating at the fastest pace in decades. And the central bank governor Hassan Acosta, who I'm speaking to tonight, really has a challenging job. The expectation right now is that she'll keep rates at eleven two point two five percent, which is the highest since nineteen ninety eight. She's had a challenging job since she took the helm last year, of course. We've seen really the incredible pressure on the peso against a U.S. dollar that reached record lows. Now, though, we do have a storage and pestle that's appreciated about 20 percent in the past three months, perhaps helping that inflationary pressure. But, of course, political uncertainty in this country also continues. And now the expectation is that Chile will be the only South American nation to contract this year. Well, I was going to ask about that political issue specifically because we'd like to have fiscal and monetary sort of moving hand in glove. How does a central bank fit together with the political government down there? The government may be making things a little bit tougher for the central bank. We are expecting a spending package for social aid of two billion dollars. Of course, this is very important for leftist president Gabriel Body, who came in promising really to help the poor and middle class. And he's had a tough job as well right now. If we move to the right and we go 10 minutes, we are going to be a plus a failure where hundreds of thousands of people gathering in 2019 for mass protests against economic inequality. Now, we are, of course, seeing more stability these days, but the rewriting of the constitution continues after a failed attempt last year which announced that it went too far. Now, this week, they've announced that they have the members of the committee to outline the new charter. It's expected to be more moderate than last year, but that political process can be difficult. Sure. If you would just go north of the border there into petrol, go up past RTX, into into room, that is even a more troubled situation. What is going on right now in Peru? And really is that narrative of the left, right. We saw the impeachment of President Gus Bedell Castillo and a new president being installed, his vice president in that worldwide. Then now today we've learned the leftist parties are trying to impeach her as well. The parties include better liberty. And that was the party that actually she run on the ticket on for vice president. But the violence has continued from supporters of federal gas CEO who want to see him released. More than 50 people have died in the past six weeks of ongoing violence. We continue to watch these markets because they represent really the future for Latin America at a time when markets are very concerned about where Chile, the richest country here in the continent, Peru, is also going under a leftist administration. So what is going on with the economy in Peru? I mean, you've just got to discuss some of the challenges for the Chilean economy. But it is a strong economy in many respects for Latin America. What about Peru? We are also seeing in Peru the same story unfold, which is very high inflation rates and the central bank of Peru having to hike rates more than a dozen times consecutively. The economy, though, is accelerating very fast, which is of course, one of the reasons why Peru's central bank has had to try to rein in that very exuberant economic activity as well as inflationary pressures. So we continue to watch what's happening. But the protests have affected many different industries in Peru, including tourism, agriculture, mining. Of course, mining is a very important sector for the Peruvian economy, which has also taken a hit. We continue to watch the operations at those mines can continue.

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Chile Expected to Leave Benchmark Rate Unchanged

Chile’s central bank will likely leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the second straight meeting on Thursday as inflation edges lower and the economy proves more resilient than many had expected. Bloomberg's Shery Ahn is in the capital of Chile with a preview. (Source: Bloomberg)