Baku: The Board of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) is set to make a crucial decision regarding the interest rate this week, as reported by APA.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the CBA will announce its decision on March 12, marking the second interest rate announcement of the year. Since May of the previous year, the CBA’s Board has maintained the interest rate at 7.25%, with the lower bound of the interest corridor at 6.25% and the upper bound at 8.25%.

The Central Bank has conveyed that its future decisions on maintaining or adjusting the interest rate will be influenced by actual and projected inflation, alongside the dynamics of external and internal risk factors. The Bank emphasized its commitment to ensuring price stability through available tools and stated that if inflationary pressures decrease and expectations remain stable, there might be room to reduce the interest corridor’s parameters. However, the Bank also assured that it would act appropriately if potential risks threaten the achievement of its inflation target.

Forecasts regarding the CBA’s upcoming decision are varied. Trading Economics, an international economic statistics portal, predicts that the interest rate will remain unchanged for the first quarter of the year. Conversely, the Dutch financial corporation ING Group anticipates that the Central Bank will increase the interest rate from 7.25% to 7.50%.