Uzbekistan’s key rate held at 14% as central bank points to fears over reacceleration of inflation

By bne IntelliNews April 25, 2024

Uzbekistan's central bank on April 25 kept its benchmark interest rate on hold at 14%, pointing to risks that inflation could once more accelerate.

Planned hikes of state-regulated prices for certain goods and services, together with the introduction of value-added tax on some goods, could add to price growth, it said.

Uzbekistan’s annual inflation rate moved down to 7.98% in March from 8.35% in February, with lower food prices a key factor.

However, monetary conditions were forming in a relatively tight phase in comparison to the upper boundary of the updated forecast on the inflation corridor, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) added.

The CBU, which targets inflation of 5%, has revised its 2024 annual inflation expectation to between 9% and 11% from 8% to 9%.

The inflation expectations of the population and entrepreneurs remained above the CBU’s current and projected inflation rates, the regulator noted.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that following inflation in Uzbekistan of 10% last year, it was expecting 11.6% this year and 9.7% in 2025.

The CBU has stuck with the current key rate of 14% on nine consecutive occasions.

Its next rate-setting meeting is scheduled for June 13.

Read in IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Russia’s expulsions of migrants reportedly nearly double in 2024 to around 80,000

Russia in 2024 expelled more than 80,000 migrants for immigration rule violations, compared to 44,200 in 2023 and 26,600 in 2022, TASS reported on January 8. The Russian state news agency cited a ... more

Kazakhstan’s transit of Russian oil to Uzbekistan and China amounts to 10.2mn tonnes in 2024

Russia’s transit of oil through Kazakhstan’s pipeline system, operated by main pipeline operator KazTransOil, to China and Uzbekistan totalled 10.21mn tonnes in 2024, ... more

World Bank must wake up to Rogun mega dam “nightmare” in Tajikistan, say activists ahead of financing vote

The World Bank has to realise that the Rogun mega project “dream of the biggest dam [in the world] will turn into a nightmare for the people and nature in Tajikistan and beyond” and that it ... more

Follow Us On

Most Read

  1. Serbian police reportedly use sonic cannon against protesters
    2 days ago
  2. RAGOZIN: What did we die for?
    5 days ago
  3. DEATH OF THE SOVIET UNION: Mountain-dwelling Old Believer reflects on the USSR that passed her by
    3 years ago
  4. The EU removes three Russian oligarchs from the latest sanctions list under pressure from Hungary
    4 days ago
  5. Economic warfare and the rise of Russia's shadow finance
    3 days ago
  1. Ukraine doesn't have any rare earth metals, and the strategic minerals it does have are not worth trillions of dollars
    22 days ago
  2. US administration 'misinformed about Romanian elections', says presidential candidate Nicusor Dan
    22 days ago
  3. Putin says sanctions have strengthened, not weakened, Russian economy
    25 days ago
  4. Fresh evidence suggests that the April 2022 Istanbul peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was stillborn
    11 months ago
  5. Kaliningrad becomes an energy island after Baltic States cut Russian grid connection
    1 month ago

Reports

Dismiss