The Board of Directors of the
agreed to keep the reference rate at 4.25%.
The decision to maintain the reference rate considered the following information and projections:
i. In January, the monthly headline inflation was 0.10%, while the core inflation was 0.04%. Year-on-year headline inflation rose from 1.5% in December to 1.7% in January. Year-on-year core inflation rose from 1.8% in December to 2.0% in January.
ii. One-year-ahead inflation expectations decreased from 2.1% in December to 2.0% in January, at the midpoint of the inflation target range.
iii. Year-on-year inflation is expected to approach the midpoint of the target range in the coming months. Likewise, core inflation is expected to remain around 2% in the projection horizon.
iv. Economic activity remains around its potential level, and the leading indicators for January show sound performance. Additionally, almost all current situation and expectations indicators remained in the optimistic territory.
v. The outlook for global economic activity this year points to stronger-than-expected growth and exceptionally favorable terms of trade for our economy.
The Board is particularly attentive to new information on inflation and its determinants, including the evolution of core inflation, inflation expectations, and economic activity, to consider, if necessary, changes in the monetary stance.
It reaffirms its commitment to adopt the necessary actions to maintain inflation within the target range.
The Board also decided on the following interest rates on its window facility operations in domestic currency with financial entities:
i. Overnight deposits: 2.25% per year.
ii. Direct security/currency repo and rediscount operations: i) 4.75% per year for the first 10 operations in the last 3 months and ii) the interest rate set by the Monetary and Exchange Operations Committee for operations in addition to these 10 operations in the last 3 months.
Moreover, the Monetary and Exchange Operations Committee may establish higher rate based on the amount of the operations.
The BCR Board's next monetary policy session will take place on March 12, 2026.