Central bank keeps key rate unchanged

3 Maj 2023, 18:02Economy TEMA

The Albanian central bank has decided to keep the key interest rate unchanged at 3%.

The head of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko said today that this decision  is necessary to guarantee the stable return of inflation to the target.

According to him, Inflation edged down in the two first months of year, to 7.2% and 7.1%, in January and February, respectively. "The downward trend of inflation, which has started since November 2022, was in line with our expectations. Nevertheless, inflation in both first months of year was titled on the upside of our expectations," he said.

": From a macroeconomic perspective, the reduced imported inflation has dictated this performance, while the domestic inflationary pressures continue to remain high. The fast growth in wages and production costs, the high demand for goods and services, and the economic agents’ expectations for further surge in prices, have fed these pressures," Sejko added.

According to him, the Albanian economy has continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2022 and in the first quarter of 2023. 

" The growth in aggregate demand is based on the expansion in: household consumption; public and private investments; and in the experts of goods and services. The increased disposable income, the improved businesses and households’ confidence, the sound balance sheets of private sectors, and the still simulating financial conditions, have sustained this dynamic," he said.

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