August 10 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's central bank decided to keep its key policy rate unchanged at 2.5% after raising it four times in as many months so far this year, it said on Wednesday.
Several important factors were taken into account while making this decision, most notably the actions already taken to normalise the monetary policy and the most recent changes in the inflation rate, the central bank said in a press release.
According to the most recent inflation data, the average inflation rate in the January-July period reached 10.9%, with rising food and energy prices still accounting for 75% of the increase, the central bank noted.
The central bank also decided to offer 10 billion denars ($163 million/162 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 July 13. The central bank's policy rate is the interest rate on the central bank bills.
Since the beginning of 2022, the central bank raised its policy rate four times - in April, May, June and July.
(1 euro = 61.49 denars)