The Monetary Council of the National Bank lowered the key policy rate by 15 basis points to 1.05% on Tuesday, in line with analysts expectations.
Analysts polled by Reuters projected a 15 basis point reduction of the base rate. Policy makers also decided on the interest rate corridor set by the overnight lending rate (O/N) and the 3-month MNB deposit rate. The O/N lending rate was cut to 1.3% from 1.45% but the deposit rate remained unchanged at -0.05%. Analysts forecast the central bank to continue with monetary easing and estimate that the base rate will bottom out at 0.5-0.75%.
