TASHKENT, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan's central bank has decided to keep its basic rate unchanged at 14 percent, the head of the bank said Thursday.
"The decision is aimed at maintaining positive real interest rates, supporting further recovery of economic activity and the formation of stable preconditions for a further slowdown in inflation in the medium term," chairman of the bank Mamarizo Nurmuratov said during a press conference.
The central bank maintains the inflation forecast at the end of the year at 11 percent to 12.5 percent, while the government will take all necessary measures to achieve it, said Nurmuratov.
The bank expects that the country's economy will start to recover faster in the near future. However, the gross domestic product growth rate by the end of 2020 is expected to be around 1 percent to 1.5 percent.
According to the bank, the main risks are related to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of restrictive measures, and the speed of recovery of business activity for Uzbekistan's main trading partners. Enditem
