Marcó del Pont: 'Central Bank's reform will help fight inflation'

Central Bank Governor Mercedes Marcó del Pont today visited the Congress to deliver before three committees a report on a reform to the Central Bank's charter, a government proposal fiercely defended by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner in her speech before the Legislative Assembly.

Marcó del Pont stated that if the bill is passed, it will “help to attack the problem of inflation” because the credit market will be able to be improved, allowing an increase in the supply of products.

“We think that the problem with prices has to do with supply and demand, that’s why it is necessary to encourage credit to generate a great offer and concentration of production,” she stated.

The head of the Central Bank made the statements this morning at a joint meeting between the Finance, General Legislation and Budget and Economy Committees.

The bill, announced by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner last week during her speech before the Legislative Assembly, would authorize the Bank’s directors to “regulate the amount of money” it holds in reserves and “orient credit” in terms of “quotas, interest rates, commissions and charges of any kind.”