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National Bank to lower refinance rate to 25 percent on May 15

 

The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) has decided to lower its base refinance rate from 27 to 25 percent on May 15, the NBB press office announced on Tuesday.

“This decision is based on the fact that inflation continues to slow – the rise in consumer prices in April is estimated to be much lower than in the previous months – which makes it possible to keep the real interest rates in the economy at a significant positive level despite the decline in their nominal levels,” the press office said.

“The export surplus in foreign trade in goods and services, coupled with the constant excess of supply over demand in the domestic exchange market creates conditions for the Belarusian rubel to keep stable and even strengthen,” the press office said. “Amid these circumstances, the high profitability of rubel deposits significantly exceeds the profitability of foreign currency deposits and leads to an intensive rise in individuals’ time deposits in rubels.”

The National Bank will continue to pursue a “balanced interest rate policy, promptly responding to developments in foreign trade, the real sector of the economy and financial markets with a view to maintaining monetary stability in the country,” the press office said.

The NBB reduced the refinance rate from 30 to 28.5 percent on March 13 and to 27 percent on April 17 after keeping it at 30 percent for six months, since September 12, 2012. //BelaPAN