The NBM increased the base rate applied to the main short-term monetary policy operations by another 0.9 percentage points - from 5.6% to 6.5% per annum
This decision was made by the Executive Committee of the National Bank of Moldova at a meeting on February 5. At the same time, the NBM also increased interest rates on overnight loans by 0.9 percentage points - from 7.6% to 8.5% per annum, on overnight deposits - from 3.6% to 4.5%, as well as on repo operations - from 5.85% to 6.75% per annum. As noted in the message of the National Bank, the Executive Committee of the NBM decided to increase the base rate by 0.9 percentage points, taking into account a number of factors. In particular, the signing of a letter of intent between the Government of Moldova and the European Commission on the provision of an expanded support package to strengthen the sustainability and energy independence of our country was taken into account. This support package is also aimed at reducing the impact of the adjustment of tariffs for electricity and natural gas on consumer prices. The NBM also noted the need to mitigate the secondary effects caused by the change in regulated tariffs in December 2024 and January 2025 on inflation and to anchor inflation expectations in order to return the annual level of the consumer price index back to the range of deviation of ±1.5 percentage points from the inflation target of 5% per annum over a reasonable period. The National Bank also pointed to the uncertainty associated with the development of the global economy and trade in the current global context. It is planned that in order to subsequently calibrate the optimal monetary policy measures to return inflation to the target range, the National Bank of Moldova will prepare a medium-term inflation forecast, taking into account the details of the extended support package provided by the European Union. In the context of the need to develop a medium-term inflation forecast that takes into account the EU support recently provided to Moldova to mitigate the effects of the increase in regulated tariffs, the National Bank of Moldova, at its Executive Committee meeting on 5 February 2025, changed the schedule for publishing Inflation Reviews during 2025. Thus, the first Inflation Review for February 2025 this year will be published on 25 February 2025. The next meeting of the NBM Executive Committee on monetary policy promotion will be held on 20 March 2025, according to the approved calendar. It should be noted that since the beginning of 2025, the NBM has already increased the base rate applied to the main short-term monetary policy operations for the second time. At the meeting on 10 January, the Executive Committee of the National Bank of Moldova increased it by 2 percentage points at once - from 3.6% to 5.6% per annum, noting that the NBM is forced to adopt new monetary policy measures due to the energy crisis, an increase in domestic tariffs for gas, heat and electricity, adjusted in December 2024 and January 2025. Before that, the NBM last changed the base rate applied to the main short-term monetary policy operations on May 7, 2024, reducing it by 0.15 percentage points - from 3.75% to 3.6% per annum. In total, it changed 3 times in 2024. In particular, it was reduced from 4.75% to 4.25% on February 6, to 3.75% on March 21 and to 3.6% per annum on May 7. // 05.02.2025 — InfoMarket
