The Board of the National Bank decided to keep the discount rate unchanged for other two months. The Chairman of the National Bank of Kyrgyzstan Tolkunbek Abdygulov told today at a press conference.
According to him, the board meeting took place the day before. The discount rate will remain the same — 5 percent. The decision of the National Bank was influenced by the current situation in the economy. Thus, the actual inflation rate as of today remains moderate and is within the expectations of the National Bank.
As of March 16, the annual inflation rate was 2.9 percent. In February, it amounted to 3.5 percent.
«Amid a favorable situation in international food markets, prices for the food group of goods have shown a slowdown. The growth in prices for coal, fuels and lubricants made a positive contribution to non-food inflation. The emerging tendency of inflation factors predetermines its dynamics in the forthcoming period in the range of 5-7 percent. In the economy of Kyrgyzstan, the positive growth dynamics is supported by the growing demand against the background of the stable dynamics of remittance inflows and the increase in real wages. Growth is observed in the main production sectors,» said Tolkunbek Abdygulov.
At the same time, a stable situation remains in the domestic foreign exchange market. Since the beginning of the year, som has strengthened by 1 percent. In March, the National Bank did not conduct any interventions.
In December 2016, the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic reduced the discount rate from 5.5 to 5 percent. Since then, it has remained unchanged. The next meeting of the Board of the National Bank on the discount rate issue will take place on May 28.
