statutes would allow it to function as a commercial lender outright. The Argentine Senate approved a reform of the Central Bank charter on 22 March 2012. Under the new regime the government will be free to pay public debt using the Central Bank's reserves. The bank would also be enabled to expand its lending capacity to the Treasury, effectively giving a boost to the government's finances. Marcó del Pont's successor, National Bank President Juan Carlos Fábrega, shifted monetary policy to an anti-inflationary stance during 2014, however, raising the benchmark 3-month note interest rate to over 28%. The rate hike had the effect of reducing Central Bank operating profits, which reached a record US$12 billion in 2014, by up to 90%; but it also absorbed around US$5 billion in liquidity from the economy, and contributed to a reduction in inflation from an estimated 37% in 2014 to around 25%. This policy was largely continued by Fábrega's successor, former National Securities Commission President Alejandro Vanoli. The Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves, which from early 2008 to early 2012 hovered between US$47 billion and US$50 billion, declined by 2014 to less than US$30 billion (an eight-year low) before stabilizing and recovering slightly. This reduction had two major facets: annual current account deficits of US$5 billion brought about by smaller merchandise trade surpluses, growing spending by Argentine tourists abroad, and interest payments on bonds held overseas (foreign debt); and a capital account deficit that reached US$7 billion in 2013 amid a foreign exchange control policy that proved counterproductive and was substantially eased in January 2014. The official exchange rate, which had oscillated around 3 pesos per dollar since early 2003, was adversely impacted by the international 2008 financial crisis, and likewise weakened to 8 pesos per dollar by the first half of 2014. A parallel, "blue" exchange market - a fixture of Argentine finance in the 1970s and '80s - reemerged when foreign exchange controls were tightened in 2012; it similarly stabilized at around 13 pesos when controls were eased in 2014. One of the first changes to economic policy from the Macri administration, just seven days after Macri had taken office, was to remove the currency controls that had been in place for four consecutive years. The move signified a 30% devaluation of the peso, and was met with both criticism and praise. See also List of presidents of the Central Bank of