ASTANA – The monetary policy committee of the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) has decided on Feb. 24 to keep the base rate at 16.75 percent, according to the bank’s press service.
Photo credit: Turar Kazangapov/TENGRINEWS.
The decision is based on the bank’s updated forecasts, data analysis, and an assessment of the inflation risks balance. External pro-inflationary factors remain amid the uncertainty of the geopolitical situation and its consequences and high world food prices.
“Internal inflation risks are associated with stable domestic demand, restructuring of logistics and production chains, stimulating fiscal policy, and still high inflation expectations. The aggregate balance of factors justifies the need to maintain the base rate at the current level during the first half of 2023 to reduce inflation in the medium term,” the report reads.
In January, the bank also kept the base rate unchanged at 16.75 percent. Previously, the bank raised the base rate from 16 percent to 16.75 percent last December.
The monetary policy committee’s next scheduled decision on the base rate is due on April 7.
