Rationale behind the decision of the Bank Board of the NBS on the set levels of the NBS interest rates

Today, the Bank Board of the NBS decided to decrease the interest rates of Narodna banka Slovenska by 0.5 of a percentage point. The base interest rate is thus decreased to 3.25%, the overnight sterilization rate to 2.25% and overnight REPO rates to 4.25%. The Bank Board of the NBS decided to follow the last-week decrease in interest rates by the ECB sooner than it did last time due to the need to better synchronize and harmonize the Slovak financial environment with the euro area. This decision should simplify some procedures linked with the euro introduction and facilitate a smoother changeover to the single currency in the area of interest rates. At the same time, primarily the development in commodity prices as well as expectations with regard to both domestic and global demand, enable the central bank to decrease the key interest rates without negative impacts on inflation development. In light of this fact, the NBS assumes further stabilization of interest rates on the primary and secondary markets.

Jana Kovacova
Spokesperson of the NBS

National Bank of Slovakia
Communications Section
Imricha Karvasa 1, 813 25 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel.: +421-2-5787 2161,+421-2-5865 2161, +421-2-5787 2166, 421-2-5865 2166
Internet: http://www.nbs.sk

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