Baku, Azerbaijan, April 30
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) decided to keep the refinancing rate at 14-percent level, considering the current and expected trends in Uzbek economy, the press service of the bank said in a statement.
According to the announcement, despite the consumer goods price hike slowing down, there are still some risks concerning keeping the inflation rate at the forecasted levels.
“The interest rates of the monetary market have stabilized and are fluctuating around the refinancing rate,” the press service noted.
Current refinancing rate allows forming of real interest rates for bank loans and deposits at positive levels close to zero. The next regular meeting of the CBU on reviewing refinancing rate is planned in late July.
The current refinancing rate has been approved on June 28, 2017. The previous rate was 9 percent and had been active since 2015. The CBU reasoned the increase by need to limit the inflation risks.
According to the official stats, inflation in Uzbekistan reached 14.4 percent in 2017. The 2.5-fold increase was caused by devaluation of the national currency – Uzbek soum. The CBU forecasts the inflation to be around 11.5-13.5 percent.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov