The Czech Republic’s central bank has made the decision to reduce its key interest rate for the fifth consecutive time. The move was widely anticipated by analysts and brought the interest rate down by a half-percentage point, to 4.75%.
This is part of a series of cuts that began on December 21, when the bank lowered borrowing costs by a quarter-point, marking the first cut since June 22, 2023. Subsequent cuts of half a percentage point each followed in February, March, and May. Inflation in the Czech Republic decreased from 10.7% in 2023 to the bank’s target of 2.0% in February, holding steady in March before rising to 2.9% in April and then dropping back to 2.6% in May.
Data released by the Czech Statistics Office on May 31 showed that the country’s economy grew by 0.2% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, and by