Bank of Albania cuts key interest rate to record low of 2.75%

Bank of Albania, the country's central bank, decided on Wednesday to cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to a new historic low of 2.75 percent after a similar cut in December in a bid to stimulate economic activities in the country. "The supervisory board of the bank deems that raising the monetary easing would create the necessary conditions to achieve the mid-term inflation target by fuelling the aggregate demand and anchoring the inflationary expectations," Bank of Albania Governor Ardian Fullani said at a news conference, according to ATA. This is the second time the central bank has lowered its base interest rate over the past three months. Fullani said that the inflation slowed to an average rate of 1.7 percent in January. He also expressed optimism about a future growth in consumption and expansion of the economic activities in Albania thanks to the government' s new fiscal initiatives.