Chile's Peso At 10 Year High

Chile's peso climbed to its highest in a decade yesterday on speculation the central bank will raise its benchmark interest rate in a bid to slow inflation, luring money to the country's fixed-income market. The 3.25 percentage-point difference between the Chilean and U.S. benchmark lending rates, at its widest since March 2002, has helped fuel an 11.5 percent increase in the peso this year. That's the biggest gain among a wide group of 26 emerging-market currencies.

The peso rose for an eighth day, strengthening 0.5 percent to 445.23 per dollar at 5:04 p.m. New York time, from 447.42 yesterday. It touched 442.69, its strongest level since February 1998.

Annual inflation accelerated to an 11-year high of 8.1 percent in February, the state statistics agency said yesterday, while a separate central bank report showed the economy expanded 3.4 percent in January.

Policy makers raised the lending rate on Jan. 10 to a six- year high of 6.25 percent in a bid to slow consumer price rises. They next meet on March 13. The central bank targets inflation at between 2 percent and 4 percent