Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) reported that inflation for July 2025 rose by 1.9%, marking a second consecutive month of acceleration. The inflation rate accumulated 17.3% year-to-date and 36.6% over the past 12 months, representing the lowest annual inflation level since December 2020. This increase occurred amid ongoing currency volatility and monetary tightening measures by the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA). The BCRA has implemented stricter liquidity controls on banks, including raising reserve requirements and reinforcing oversight of banks' dollar positions, aiming to reduce excess pesos in circulation and stabilize the exchange rate. Luis Caputo, a key economic official, emphasized a firm stance against injecting additional pesos into the market and is conducting extraordinary debt auctions to absorb approximately 6 trillion pesos left out in previous placements. Meanwhile, inflation in Argentina remains among the highest in the region for 2025, behind only Venezuela and Bolivia. In related regional economic news, Colombia's Grupo Aval reported a 96.7% annual increase in net profits for Q2 2025, reaching 883.7 billion pesos, while Grupo Éxito posted a net profit of 240 billion pesos in the first half of the year, driven by retail and complementary businesses. The Colombian economy is expected to see a rebound in the second quarter, although productivity remains weak. Additionally, retail sales in Colombia grew 10.1% in June 2025 compared to the previous year, but inflation in Colombia is projected to begin rising again after July.