Chile central bank keeps benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.5%

SANTIAGO: Chile's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.5% on Tuesday, in line with expectations, as the country continues with efforts to revive the economy while also battling a second spike in the coronavirus pandemic.

A central bank poll of traders last week predicted Chile's rate, its lowest in a decade, would only nudge upwards to 0.75% in 12 months.

The world's No. 1 copper producer has kept its interest rate steady since successive cuts up until late March, when it warned of a "severe" economic contraction as a result of the virus.