Laos raises interest rates to reduce inflationary pressure

Vientiane, August 28 (SocialNews.XYZ) Laos' central bank, the Bank of the Lao PDR (BOL), will further raise interest rates to ease the inflationary pressures currently weighing on the economy.

The bank's monetary policy committee has decided to raise the interest rate on the Lao kip from 10 percent to 10.5 percent per annum. The interest rate on foreign currency deposits will also be increased from 10 percent to 11 percent per annum, according to a report released by the BOL on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

This latest adjustment follows an earlier decision by the BOL on June 12 to raise the kip interest rate to 10 percent per annum from 8.5 percent, reflecting the bank's determination to address ongoing economic challenges.

The BOL is also pushing ahead with efforts to improve foreign exchange management and develop a payment system linking domestic and cross-border banks to promote the use of the Lao currency, the kip.

In addition, the BOL launched a trial run of an online foreign exchange market system through the Lao Forex Exchange (LFX) platform to integrate and centralize the foreign exchange system.

Due to the ongoing imbalance between foreign exchange supply and demand, Laos' economy remains highly sensitive to the global economic situation.

In addition, continued credit growth in the banking sector could lead to excessive demand for goods and services, pushing up prices and contributing to inflation, the report said.

Source: IANS

Information Gopi

Gopi Adusumilli is a programmer. He is the Editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.

He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.

When it comes to writing, he enjoys writing about current world politics and Indian movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a news website that is unbiased or does not judge anyone.

He can be reached at [email protected]