National Bank: Central banks increasing interest rates to cushion blow from price surges
Skopje, 18 August 2022 (MIA) - The central banks around the world by increasing interest rates will contribute to cushion the blow from price surges and prevent expectations for rising inflation. International institutions expect stabilization in the coming period before the prices of primary products, which will lessen global and domestic pressures. The National Bank also reacted in terms of the basic interest rate all the while taking a series of measures to increase Denarisation and stimulate savings in the national currency, says Biljana Davidovska - Stojanova, head of the National Bank's Directorate for Monetary Policy and Research.
The dynamic of inflation will be largely conditioned by the movement track of the prices of primary products, according to her.
"Since inflation this year will rise globally, it is expected in the coming period to normalize gradually and to be reduced to moderate frameworks in the medium term. Not all uncertainty is eliminated having in mind the global prices of the primary products, which are oscillating under the impact of the Ukraine war and the sanctions imposed against Russia," Davidovska-Stojanova says in an interview with Pari.mk portal.
The current inflation, she adds, in our country and also globally is largely due to supply factors, including the strong pressure on energy and food prices, which is the result of decreased supply due to the war in Ukraine and the economic sanctions towards Russia.
"Having in mind that these pressures last for too long, price surges are becoming omnipresent also affecting the prices of other products and services. It additionally stirs inflation expectations, which also might contribute to rising prices," says Davidovska-Stojanova.
As a result, she adds, most central banks, including the National Bank, have started tightening the monetary policy by gradually withdrawing the injected liquidity and by gradually increasing basic interest rates.