National Bank lowers base rate to 16.75%
The Monetary Policy Committee of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan has decided to set the base rate at 16.75%, lowering it by 0.25 percentage points, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to the regulator, annual inflation has been declining for the ninth consecutive month, reaching 10.3% in June after 10.4% in May, which allowed the base rate to be reduced.
“The adopted decision takes into account the achieved decline in annual inflation and allows for a proportional adjustment of the tightness of monetary policy conditions. It is based on the premise of consistent fiscal consolidation and adherence to approved parameters for the budget, transfers from the National Fund, and volumes of quasi‑public stimulus. Any significant deviation of actual indicators from the stated benchmarks will serve as grounds for revising the risk balance assessment and the trajectory of the base rate,” the National Bank said.
The main pro‑inflationary risks are linked to elevated and volatile inflation expectations, further dynamics in fuel prices and utility tariffs, potential strengthening of consumer activity, as well as an acceleration of external inflation.
Earlier, in April, the National Bank decided to set the base rate at 18.0% with a corridor of +/- 1 percentage point.
