October 29 (SeeNews) - Moldova's central bank, BNM, on Thursday decided to keep its key monetary rate unchanged at 19.5% while raising its inflation forecasts for 2015 and 2016.
BNM also maintained its annual interest rates on overnight loans and deposits at 22.5% and 16.5%, respectively, the bank said in a statement.
"The decisions [...] are aimed at anchoring inflation expectations in the context of restoring and maintaining the inflation rate close to the target of 5.0% over the medium-term, with a possible deviation of plus/minus 1.5 percentage points," BNM said.
Moldova's annual inflation accelerated to 12.6% in September, up by 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous month.
BNM has revised its forecasts for average annual inflation for this and next year to 9.7% and 11.9%, respectively. The figures are higher by 0.4 percentage points and by 0.3 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous projections, made in August.
The monetary policy measures adopted by the BNM at the beginning of the year are to be transposed into the national economy through various transmission channels, including by influencing interest rates on loans and deposits in local currency, thus exerting further effects on inflation, the bank added.
BNM last revised its key monetary rate on August 26, when it raised it by two percentage points.
The central bank's board will hold its next monetary policy meeting on November 26.