Staff Correspondent:
Bangladesh Bank raised the policy rate by 50 basis points to 8.5 percent to bring down the runaway inflation. The new rate comes into effect from today, said the central bank in a notice. The monetary policy committee of the central bank took the decision at a meeting yesterday. Since inflation has stayed above 9 percent, the BB has been following a contractionary policy stance in its efforts to reduce demand and contain prices. It has raised the policy rate for several times since May 2022 to increase the cost of money. Additionally, to refine liquidity management, the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) rate has been increased by 50 basis points to 10 percent.The Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) rate has been increased by 50 basis points as well to 7 percent, the notice said.