On Friday, Kazakhstan’s central bank kept its policy rate at 16.75% and said it was likely to stay at that level for a long time.
The move was expected by the market because the inflation rate in December was in line with what the central bank had predicted. Consumer price growth has sped up to over 20% per year, which is the highest it has been since the 1990s. However, it has started to slow down from month to month.
In a statement, the bank said that there was still a lot of uncertainty, including because of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and that monetary policy needed to stay tight to keep inflation risks low.
At the same time, it said that there was a “limited” chance of more rate hikes. The bank will look at its rate again on Feb. 24, after it has updated its predictions for the economy as a whole.
