BCEAO to lower key interest rates in mid-June

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) will reduce its key interest rates by 25 basis points on June 16, Governor Jean-Claude Kassi Brou announced Wednesday in Dakar.

   The main policy rate will drop from 3.50 percent to 3.25 percent, while the marginal lending facility rate will be lowered from 5.50 percent to 5.25 percent, Brou said during an address following a meeting of the BCEAO’s Monetary Policy Committee.

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   “These measures are based on an analysis of price trends, economic activity, the external situation of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, and medium-term risks,” he said. The rate cuts, he added, are expected to ease financing conditions for economic activity across the union.

   The reserve requirement ratio for banks will remain unchanged at 3 percent. Inflation declined in the first quarter of 2025, falling from 2.9 percent to 2.3 percent, the governor noted.

Source: Xinhua