March 30 (SeeNews) - Albania's central bank said it decided to hold its key interest rate at a record low 1.25%.
"In conclusion to the discussions on the most recent economic and monetary developments and the expected outlook, the Supervisory Council decided to keep unchanged the monetary policy rate at 1.25%," the central bank said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Bank of Albania's supervisory council also decided to not alter the interest rate corridor in the interbank market, assigned at 0.25% for the overnight deposit interest rate and at 2.25% for the overnight lending rate.
The bank last changed the key interest rate in May, lowering it by 25 basis points.
The central bank's governor, Gent Sejko, said that according to the latest available economic and financial information, Albania's current economy situation is overall in line with the bank's expectations.
"The Albanian economy continues to record growth, inflation is moving gradually towards the target, financial markets are calm, and interest rates and financing conditions are consistent with the achievement of our inflation objective," Sejko said during a press conference following the monetary policy decision.
"In the absence of shocks, the positive economic trend, the favourable financing conditions, and the gradual improvement of confidence and of the external environment are expected to enable the return of the economy to equilibrium and of inflation to target within 2018," the governor added.
In February Albania's consumer price inflation slowed to 2.2% year-on-year from 2.8% in January. The governor attributed the deflation to fluctuating food prices, which were affected by weather conditions and developments on foreign markets.
Inflation is anticipated to return to the central bank's 3% target around the end of 2018.