BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5
By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:
Administration of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan decided to leave interest rates unchanged at the level of 16 percent, Trend reports with reference to the bank.
This decision is made due to the forthcoming liberalization of regulated tariffs and increasing foreign economic uncertainties associated with the coronavirus, the report says.
"The central bank assumes that the main peak of inflation will occur in the second quarter. Meanwhile, in the second half of 2020, the impact of tariff increases will gradually reduce, bringing the annual inflation rate closer to the upper limit of the forecast corridor," reads the message.
According to the Central Bank, annual inflation in February was 13.5 percent.
Core inflation in February 2020 fell to 12.5 percent per annum compared to December 2019.
On January 16, the Central Bank decided not to change the monetary policy. At the same time, it was noted that there is a possibility making decisions on policy easing at the next meetings.
This week, two largest central banks in the world reduced rates. The Federal Reserve System (FRS) at an emergency meeting on March 3 convened cut the rate by half a percentage point for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis. The Central Bank of Canada then decided to reduce the key rate by 0.5 percent to 1.25 percent per annum.
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