November 9 (SeeNews) - Moldova's central bank, BNM, said it has decided to cut its policy rate to 2.65% from 2.75%, taking into account the domestic disinflationary trend.
The decision is aimed at supporting domestic aggregate demand, the lending process and the economy as a whole, BNM said in a press release on Friday.
Interest rates on overnight loans and deposits were reduced to 5.15% and 0.15% annually, respectively.
Disinflationary pressures will continue throughout the forecasting horizon - fourth quarter of 2020 and the third quarter of 2022, the central bank added.
Among the factors decreasing aggregate demand are anti-pandemic measures, declining external demand, negative cumulative fiscal impulse since the beginning of the year, real appreciation of the national currency, as well as unfavorable agri-meteorological conditions, which affected the volume of agricultural production, according to BNM.
The COVID-19 pandemic involves a series of uncertainties related to the impact on the economic recovery, next year's agricultural production, the timing and magnitude of the tariff adjustment for regulated services, the central bank said.
BNM will hold its next monetary policy meeting on December 9.
Moldova's consumer prices rose by 2.32% year-on-year in September, compared to an annual rise of 3.45% in the previous month, according to the latest inflation data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
(1 euro = 20.3122 Moldovan lei)