Central Bank keeps benchmark rate at 3.00%; Aug. prices rise 0.78%

Santo Domingo.- The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic said Wednesday that it maintains the benchmark rate at 3.00% per year, after an “exhaustive analysis of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on economic activity and future evolution of inflation.”

It also said the interest rate on the permanent liquidity expansion facility (1-day Repos) remains at 3.50% per annum and the interest rate on remunerated deposits (‘Overnight’) at 2.50% per annum.

“In particular, the monthly variation of the consumer price index (CPI) in August was 0.78%, while the accumulated inflation during the first eight months of the year was 3.12%,” the Central Bank said in a statement.

“Likewise, year-on-year inflation in the country, from August 2019 to August 2020, reached 4.80%, being within the target range of 4.0% ± 1.0%, while core inflation, which excludes the most volatile components of the basket basic, reached 4.24%.