May 5 (SeeNews) - Albania's central bank decided to keep its key interest rate at 1% as it sees the current monetary policy stance as adequate to meet the price stability objective and support the economic growth, central bank governor Gent Sejko said.
The central bank also kept unchanged the interest rate on the overnight deposit facility at 0.1%, and the rate on the overnight lending facility at 1.9%, Sejko said in a statement on Wednesday.
The central bank's decision is based on expectations that the war in Ukraine will not escalate, pressures in the global markets will alleviate over the next year and economic growth with trade partners will carry on, Sejko said.
Albania's consumer price inflation increased in the first quarter, averaging 4.4%. The prices are expected to remain high for the rest of the year, before they gradually decrease in 2023 and converge towards the target at the first half of 2024, the statement read.
At the same time, Albania's economic growth is expected to continue, although at a slower pace than previously expected, Sejko noted.
The central bank raised its policy rate to 1% from record low 0.5% in March amid expectations for continued inflation. The interest rate corridor of the interbank money market was also revised - to 1.9% from 0.9%.