by Nurat Uthman
Rwanda’s monetary policy can remain accommodative as inflation is expected to remain under 5% through 2025, National Bank of Rwanda governor John Rwangombwa said on Thursday.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a fintech event in Singapore, Rwangombwa also said growth in the East African nation was expected to come in above 8% this year. “Our monetary policy stance is expected to remain accommodative,” he said when asked about the central bank’s easing cycle.
The central bank has cut its policy rate by 50 basis points at each of its past two meetings, taking the rate down to 6.5%.
“So now the question is, is 6.5% where we are today accommodative enough? Do we need to reduce further? These are decisions taken by the monetary policy committee,” he said.
Rwangombwa said two major risks for the economy were climate change, because of its impact on the agricultural sector, and geopolitics, specifically the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
He said Rwanda expected to renew its programmes with the International Monetary Fund when they end in mid-2025, saying they were more about policy advice than financing.
“It’s about policy support mainly. We engage with the fund on economic policies we are implementing, so they act as our advisors.”
