Monday, August 17, 2020

This week in monetary policy: Congo cuts, Jamaica, Indonesia, Zambia, Namibia, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Norway, Turkey, Botswana & Mozambique

     This week - August 10 through August 15 - central banks from 11 countries or jurisdictions are scheduled to decide on monetary policy: Jamaica, Indonesia, Zambia, Namibia, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Norway, Turkey, Botswana and Mozambique.
     The table below includes the Central Bank of Congo's (CBC) monetary policy decision on Friday, Aug. 14, to hike its policy rate by 1,100 basis points to 18.50 percent in light of a jump in inflation to 15.90 percent in June while the contraction in economic activity has been less severe than initially estimated.
     Based on data by the end of June, CBC forecast economic contraction of 1.7 percent this year compared with the March forecast of 2.4 percent. The Congolese franc was trading at 1,960 to the U.S. dollar today, down 3.2 percent since the beginning of July and down 14 percent this year.
     On Friday, Aug. 14, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) temporarily closed its main building in downtown Kingston out of "an abundance of caution" as the bank's premises may have been compromised by someone who may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. 
     No bank staff tested positive and BOJ's website still listed the next monetary policy decision as Aug. 18.
     Exactly a year ago, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) adopted the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) as its new benchmark lending rate instead of the one-year lending rate and also changed its method for calculating LPR so it was more representative of actual lending rates. Since then, LPR has been announced on the 20th of each month.
     Following table includes the name of the country, the date of the next policy decision, the current policy rate, the result of the last policy decision, the change in the policy rate year to date, and the rate one year ago.
    The table is updated when the latest decisions are announced and can always accessed by clicking on This Week.


WEEK 34
AUG 17 - AUG 22, 2020:
DEM. CONGO14-Aug18.50%1,1009509.00%
JAMAICA18-Aug0.50%000.50%
INDONESIA19-Aug4.00%-25-1005.50%         EM
ZAMBIA19-Aug4.50%0-505.00%
NAMIBIA19-Aug4.00%-25-2506.50%
CHINA 20-Aug3.85%0-304.25%         EM
PHILIPPINES20-Aug2.25%-50-1754.25%         EM
SRI LANKA20-Aug4.50%-100-2507.00%
NORWAY20-Aug0.00%0-1501.25%         DM
TURKEY20-Aug8.25%0-37519.75%         EM
BOTSWANA20-Aug4.25%0-504.75%
MOZAMBIQUE20-Aug10.25%-100-25012.75%


    www.CentralBankNews.info

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