Argentina's Central Bank on Thursday increased its benchmark interest rate to 60 percent -- the world's highest -- in an effort to halt a sharp slide in the value of the peso, which plunged to a record low.

The peso fell more than 13 percent against the dollar, closing at an all-time low of 39.2 per greenback, after slipping about 7 percent the day before.

The Central Bank said in a statement that it was hiking its benchmark interest rate by 15 percentage points to 60 percent in response to the currency problems and the risk of greater impact on local inflation, which is already running at about 30 percent a year.

The tumult in the exchange market came a day after President Mauricio Macri said he was asking for an early release of some International Monetary Fund money under an $50 billion backup financing arrangement approved earlier.

Some experts said the announcement, combined with the interest rate hike, had the unintended effect of fueling the crisis of confidence.

"I think today's interest hike announcement will do nothing but leave investors even more jittery," said Monica de Bolle, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

"I'm finding it difficult to understand why, after yesterday's announcement about front-loading more of the IMF funding, the government thought the hike was warranted," she said. "Hyperactivity starts to look like desperation."