Bank of Albania keeps key Repo rate at 5.75%

TIRANA, June 26נThe Bank of Albania said it decided to keep its key Repo rate unchanged at 5.75% after annual inflation in May remained within the bank’s target range of 2-4 percent.
May’s consumer price index (CPI) fell by 0.8% month-on-month after a 0.1% monthly decrease in April. Annual consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.1% in May from 1.9% in April.
“An analysis of some economic and financial indicators shows that the economic activity in the country may slow down in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis. Domestic demand has started to slow down,” BoA said in a statement.
BoA’s decision to keep the key Repo rate unchanged aims to keep the macroeconomic stability in the country, the statement said.
Late in January, the Bank of Albania cut its key Repo rate by 0.5 percentage points to 5.75% in a bid to ensure the country’s macroeconomic stability amid the global financial and economic turbulences. The change in the key Repo rate was the first one since November 2007, when BoA raised it by 0.25 percentage points to 6.25%.