December 15 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's central bank said on Wednesday it has decided to leave its policy rate unchanged at the historically lowest level of 1.25%, as the current monetary policy stance is adequate to the macroeconomic and financial conditions and contributes to supporting credit flows to the economy.
For the time being, there is no need for a monetary reaction to inflation pressure as the rise in prices stems from factors on the supply side, not on the demand side, the central bank said in a statement.
North Macedonia's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3% on the year in the third quarter of 2021, which indicates that the country's economy continues to recover, the central bank added.
The central bank also decided to offer 10 billion denars ($182.9 million/162.3 million euro) worth of central bank bills at an auction on Wednesday, unchanged in comparison with the amount offered at the last auction held on November 10. The central bank's policy rate is the interest rate on the central bank bills.
The average annual increase of consumer prices in the January-November period is 3.1%, in line with the end-year inflation projection, the central bank said.
Last month, the central bank said it expects the country's economy to rebound to 3.9% growth in 2021, after shrinking by 4.5% last year.
The central bank last changed its policy rate in March, cutting it by 0.25 percentage points.
(1 euro = 61.62 denars)