Bangladesh Bank has announced a new monetary policy for the second half of fiscal year 2025–26 (January–June), keeping the policy interest rate unchanged at 10 percent.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur unveiled the third and final monetary policy under the interim government at a press conference at the central bank on Monday.
The monetary policy statement said Bangladesh’s economy is now at a critical juncture. It has moved away from the risk of a possible economic downturn and is advancing toward stronger macroeconomic stability, laying the foundation for new growth.
Inflationary pressure has eased somewhat but remains relatively high. In this situation, reducing the policy rate prematurely would not be a prudent decision, the statement said.
The policy rate is the interest rate at which Bangladesh Bank lends to commercial banks. The main reason for keeping the rate unchanged is that the inflation target of 6.5 percent for fiscal year 2026, set in the previous monetary policy, has not yet been achieved.
Inflation rose for the third consecutive month in January, reaching the highest level in eight months. According to data released by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Sunday, inflation stood at 8.58 percent in January. It was 8.49 percent in December, 8.29 percent in November, and 8.17 percent in September.
Bangladesh Bank announces its monetary policy every six months.
The central bank has been following a contractionary monetary stance since late 2024. After the interim government assumed office, the central bank adopted a full-scale contractionary policy. Inflation began to decline in August 2024.
The private sector credit growth target was set at 7.20 percent for December 2025. However, bank credit growth to the private sector stood at 6.10 percent at the end of December, the lowest in the past 20 years.
