The National Bank of Rwanda kept its key repo rate steady at 5.5 percent on September 25th 2018. Policymakers said the decision is based on the backdrop of positive macroeconomic conditions which are expected to continue going forward. The Committee added that the inflation rate remains low and and exchange rate pressures are moderate. The annual inflation rate fell to 0.6 percent in August from 1.4 percent in June, mainly due to lower cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages. Policymakers also said that the economic outlook remains positive and it is on track to achieve the initial annual growth estimate of 7.2 percent in 2018. The Committee noted that the economy grew 6.7 percent in the second quarter of the year compared to a 4.0 percent expansion in the same period of 2017 . Interest Rate in Rwanda averaged 7.33 percent from 2005 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 9 percent in September of 2005 and a record low of 5.50 percent in December of 2017.
Interest Rate in Rwanda is expected to be 5.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Interest Rate in Rwanda to stand at 5.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Rwanda Interest Rate is projected to trend around 6.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.