The central bank may lower its inflation target to 4% per annum in the next five-year term, Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) Pavel Kallaur declared on November 6.
“We freely admit that we can set 4% as the target rate of inflation in the next five-year term,” the official noted.
In his words, the matter has yet to be discussed with the government taking into account various structural problems, primarily the phasing out of cross-subsidizing. Pavel Kallaur pointed out that if the inflation target were set at 4% and the situation deviated from it, various tools would be used to address the situation.
“If one-time shocks come into play and push inflation away from 4%, if, figuratively speaking, inflation goes to 6%, the central bank and the government will use monetary policy tools and the general economic policy to return to the target,” the official added.
The inflation target stands at 5% at most in 2019 and 2020. (BelTA/Business World Magazine)
