At a conference for business leaders, Central Bank of Uruguay President Guillermo Tolosa set out a policy agenda aimed at reducing dollarisation by encouraging prices to be set in Uruguayan pesos and by making peso-denominated saving more attractive. He linked the initiative to Uruguay’s consolidation of low inflation and monetary stability under its inflation-targeting framework. Measures already announced include higher capital charges for banks on USD lending to “non-tradable” companies, the removal of tax incentives for investments abroad, and steps to help households earn returns on peso accounts. Options under evaluation include requiring explicit customer consent when opening USD accounts acknowledging the risk of large purchasing-power losses, introducing dual USD and UYU price denomination for items such as property and vehicles, and adjusting bank reserve requirements to better support use of the domestic currency. Tolosa noted that around 70% of local bank deposits are in USD, rising to 80%–90% when including deposits held outside the local foreign-exchange system, and argued that saving in USD can lead to significant swings in peso purchasing power.
Central Bank of Uruguay 2025-09-16
Central Bank of Uruguay outlines incentives to increase peso use in pricing and saving
At a conference, Central Bank of Uruguay President Guillermo Tolosa outlined a policy agenda to reduce dollarisation by promoting the use of Uruguayan pesos for pricing and savings. Measures include higher capital charges on USD lending to non-tradable companies and removal of tax incentives for foreign investments. Options under consideration involve requiring customer consent for USD accounts and dual price denomination in USD and UYU for certain items.