BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The National Bank of Kazakhstan is gearing up for its next monetary policy decision on May 26, with market analysts anticipating the central bank to keep the policy rate steady at 16.75 percent, Trend reports.
The decision comes as inflation, although still elevated, has shown signs of easing, standing at 16.8 percent year-on-year in April after reaching a peak of 21.3 percent in February, according to Renaissance Capital.
Overall, the National Bank of Kazakhstan has been actively implementing monetary policy measures to address the country's inflationary challenges. In response to rising inflation, the bank has steadily increased the base rate, which currently stands at 16.75 percent. According to the inflation forecast, with this rate, the bank approached the end of its monetary policy tightening cycle.
The current level of the base rate is deemed sufficiently high to stabilize inflation and gradually reduce it over the medium term, as long as it is maintained at the current levels for an extended period.
