SKOPJE (Macedonia), November 30 (SeeNews) – Macedonia's central bank on Monday cut its key repo rate to 8.5% from 9.0% based on expectations of more favorable conditions for its monetary policy next year, state-run news agency MIA reported.
A gradual economic recovery is expected in Macedonia next year, MIA (www.mia.com.mk) quoted central bank governor Petar Gosev as saying.
According to central bank forecasts, the country’s economy will grow 1.0%-2.0% next year, while average annual inflation will be 1.2 %, MIA said.
Macedonia's GDP contracted by an annual 1.4% in the second quarter of 2009, compared to a 6.7% growth a year earlier. The country’s economy grew by a real 4.8% in 2008, slower than the growth of 5.9% in 2007.
Macedonia's consumer price index dropped by 2.4% year-on-year in October after falling by 1.4% in September. Annual inflation accelerated to 8.3% in 2008 from 2.3% in 2007.
The central bank will take all the needed measures to maintain the stability of the exchange rate of local denar currency in 2010, MIA quoted Gosev as saying.
In May, the central bank raised the key repo rate to 9.0% from 7.0% to keep the denar stable.
The Macedonian currency has been de facto pegged to the euro since 2002 as the country has been applying an exchange rate-targeting strategy, under which the exchange rate has been allowed to fluctuate within margins of +/-1% around a central rate set at 61 denars per euro and has remained more or less constant at that level.