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Bloomberg
The National Bank of Kazakhstan kept interest rates on hold at a second consecutive meeting, but warned that inflation may pick up in the first quarter of next year.
The base rate stayed unchanged at 9.25%, the National Bank of Kazakhstan said in a statement. The decision was forecast by six economists polled by Bloomberg.
Inflation may accelerate to the higher edge of the central bank’s target corridor in the first quarter of 2020 due to increased tariffs on services and rising food prices, the central bank said.
Kazakhstan has held rates steady since a surprise hike in September helped tame a jump in food prices. Inflationary risks still remain though, and “further action†may be needed, the International Monetary Fund said in a report last month. The central bank’s rates corridor, formed from the overnight deposit and lending rates, was kept at plus or minus one percentage point around benchmark.