«We expect the National Bank to lower the discount rate in April this year,» a senior presidential administration official told reporters at a closed briefing.
According to him, the National Bank has kept the discount rate at a high level for two years. This is an ultra-conservative policy.
«From March 1, 2022 to December 2022, they kept the rate at 14 percent, and from December 2022 to this day — 13 percent. We expect them to lower the discount rate because we believe that this restrains economic growth and greatly increases the cost of borrowing for our businesses and households. We believe that we have survived the inflation problem and such an overly cautious policy of the National Bank regarding the discount rate is not justified,» the senior official concluded.
