Central Bank of Uzbekistan raises refinancing rate

By  Trend

The Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) decided to raise the refinancing rate by 2 percentage points - from 14 percent to 16 percent per annum from Sept. 25, 2018, the press service of the CBU said in a statement.

This decision has been made taking into account changes in external conditions and is aimed at reducing inflationary pressure amid rising inflation expectations, growth in regulated prices and rising exchange rate pressure on prices.

Despite the slowdown in annual inflation, this trend may change as a result of implementation of inflationary risks. Toughening monetary policy will help reduce these risks and inflation expectations.

Annual inflation in Uzbekistan continued to decline and amounted to 15.7 percent in August, not exceeding the scope of the initial forecast. This was facilitated by the seasonal cheapening of horticultural products and the gradual exhaustion of the influence of the accelerated growth rates of the money supply and the devaluation of the soum in 2017.