Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.31 / Trend, N. Ismayilova /
In light of continuing economic processes in the real sector of the Azerbaijani economy, the banking sector, and also economic forecasts, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) will preserve the current discount rate, the CBA told Trend today.
"The CBA closely watches processes emerging in the economy, and our main mandate is the inflation level," CBA General Director Khagani Abdullayev said. "Today we are conducting a fundamental analysis of all factors impacting inflation. At the same time, we are taking into account the situation in the real sector."
He added that the CBA has also decided that there is no need to toughen its monetary policy.
"We will keep it at a neutral level," Abdullayev said. "As a result of the third quarter, we have analyzed the macroeconomic situation, the total demand and the inflation level. But our further decision depends on the economic situation, inflation and expectations."
He also told Trend that the CBA's primary forecasts show that inflation is impacted not only by domestic, but also by foreign factors.
"A shock was observed on foreign markets, and this may have an impact on inflation in the country," Abdullayev said. "The current inflation rate is about five percent, and as of late 2010 the annual average inflation was forecast at 5-6 percent."
According to the State Statistics Committee, prices on consumer goods and tariffs on services in July dropped by 0.2 percent compared to the previous month.