BoA keeps key Repo rate unchanged at 5.75%

TIRANA, May 29؂ank of Albania said on Thursday it decided to keep its key Repo rate unchanged at 5.75% after annual inflation in April remained below the bank’s target band of two to four percent.
Albania’s April consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.1% month-on-month, after a 0.6% monthly increase in March. Annual consumer price inflation accelerated to 1.9% in April from 1.6% in March.
CPI is expected to remain below the bank’s target band in the next few months, the bank said in a statement.
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 the central bank raised it by 0.25 percentage points to 6.25%.
Albania has said its sees its economy growing by 6.3% this year, compared to a 6.1% growth in 2008.