Citing the cool-off, Argentina's central bank held its benchmark interest rate steady at 75% later on Thuesday, extending a pause on hikes after one of the world's most aggressive tightening cycles. The official INDEC statistics agency said rolling 12-month inflation in November hit 92.4%, with prices up 85.3% during the first 11 months of the year. The monthly rate, though, was the lowest since February and well below analyst forecasts of 5.9%. "It is difficult to manage a budget from one month to the next," Natalia Jones told Reuters on the streets of Buenos Aires shopping for vegetables. Eduardo Ortega, manager of a grocery shop in Buenos Aires, said it meant people were cutting back on the amount of food they could buy.

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