Central Bank of Azerbaijan retains refinancing rate at 6.5% pa

BAKU. May 6 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Azerbaijan retained the refinancing rate, or discount rate, at 6.5% per annum during the regulator's meeting on Wednesday.

The regulator's press release indicated that the lower limit of the interest rate corridor remains at 5.5% pa and the upper limit at 7.5% pa.

The Central Bank said that its decision was based on inflation forecasts holding within the established 4% band +/- 2 percentage points, with the regulator also accounting for the risks from growing geopolitical tensions, the current situation in global and domestic financial markets, domestic macroeconomic trends, and the specifics of the transmission of monetary policy decisions to the real economy.

The regulator plans to base further decisions regarding the refinancing rate parameters on changes to the inflation forecast and the macroeconomic situation. "If a risk of deviation in the inflation forecast from the target arises, then adequate monetary policy measures will be taken," the Central Bank said.

As previously reported, the Central Bank at its first key rate meeting of the year on February 4, 2026, trimmed the refinancing rate by 25 basis points to 6.5% pa and retained it at 6.5% pa at the meeting on April 2.

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan had eight meetings on the refinancing rate in 2025, thereby retaining the rate as is at six of them and trimming the rate by 25 basis points at two of them. The regulator trimmed the refinancing rate to 6.75% pa from 7% pa in December 2025.