April 11 (SeeNews) - Serbia's central bank, NBS, said on Tuesday it will keep its key repo rate unchanged at 4.0% - for the ninth time in as many months.
"By taking the decision, the Executive Board kept in mind the inflationary factors, the effects of previous monetary easing and the expectations that the inflation rate will remain within the target band of 1.5%-4.5% in the short term," NBS said in a statement.
Serbia's annual inflation accelerated to 3.2% year-on-year in February, as a result of the recovery of oil prices and the one-off effects of a rise in the prices of fruits and vegetables due to unfavourable weather conditions since the start of the year, the NBS said.
Annual inflation stood at 1.4% in January, according to the latest official data available. On a monthly comparison basis, consumer prices grew by 0.7% in February, after rising by 2.4% in January.
The NBS executive board plans to keep following closely the situation of the international financial markets and the changes in the price of crude oil. It expects the divergence in the monetary policies of the leading central banks to increase the uncertainty regarding their influence on the global capital flows, the Serbian central bank added.
The successful implementation of fiscal consolidation and structural reforms, as well as the reduction of external imbalances increase the resilience of the Serbian economy to possible adverse effects from the international environment, NBS said.
NBS last changed the repo rate in July, cutting it by 0.25 percentage points to help guide inflation to the targeted band.
The NBS will hold its next rate-setting meeting on May 12.