Serbia’s central bank will keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 percent on Monday, marking a full year of steady policy, on external factors, stable inflation and to avoid deterring investors from buying dinar-denominated securities.
Twelve out of 13 analysts and traders polled by Reuters this week and last said the central bank would keep the rate, on hold. One saw a 25 basis points cut.
Last month, the bank said that rising inflation, the effects of policy easing and inflation moving inside its target range motivated it to hold the rate.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve remains set on further interest rate rises and the European Central Bank appears to be moving toward unveiling how and when it will trim back its tens of billions worth of monthly bond purchases.
Such moves coupled with a rate cut in Serbia could deter yield-seeking portfolio investors, said Sasa Djogovic, a economist with the Belgrade-based Institute for Market Research.
