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Central Bank of Azerbaijan keeps key interest rate unchanged at 6.5%

31 July 2026 10:08 (UTC +04:00)

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has announced its latest decision on the key interest rate, APA-Economics reports.

The CBA Board decided to leave all parameters of the interest rate corridor unchanged. As a result, the key interest rate remains at 6.5%, while the lower and upper bounds of the interest rate corridor stay at 5.5% and 7.5%, respectively.

The CBA said the decision was based on actual and projected inflation, as well as developments in the domestic financial market. While the upward revision of the inflation forecast called for tighter monetary policy, the significant excess of foreign currency supply over demand offset this effect, justifying the decision to keep the interest rate corridor unchanged.

Annual inflation stood at 5.8% in June 2026. During the first half of the year, the CBA's foreign exchange reserves increased by $2.2 billion, or 19.5%, reaching $13.8 billion.

Under its baseline scenario, the CBA expects annual inflation to reach 6.1% by the end of 2026 and 5.8% by the end of 2027. The bank added that future decisions on the interest rate corridor will be based on inflation forecasts, macroeconomic indicators, developments in the foreign exchange market, and liquidity conditions in the banking sector.

Ilaha Salimova

Central Bank of Azerbaijan CBA interest rate key interest rate monetary policy interest rate corridor inflation inflation forecast foreign exchange reserves Azerbaijan economy APA-Economics