Kazakhstan Central Bank sets key rate at 7.5%

The National Bank of Kazakhstan has raised the key rate to 7.5% (0.5% up), the Bank’s press service reports. “Given the trends of the financial market and the inflation rate, the Board decided to set the key [refinance] rate at 7.5% from March 9, 2011”, the Bank’s statement said. Earlier, the key rate stood at 7%. Early February Grigory Marchenko, Head of the National Bank, had told that the Bank might consider raising the key rate in case of growing inflationary pressure. One of priority tasks for the National Bank in 2011 is to retain inflation within 6-8%, Vice Chairman Bissengali Tadzhiyakov said in January. The key rate is the interest rate that the Central Bank charges banks for secured overnight lending. It is the lowest rate at which the Bank acts as lender of last resort to the money markets.