BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 12. The AZIR benchmark
interest rate in Azerbaijan’s unsecured interbank money market
continued to move close to the central bank’s policy rate during
the reporting period.
According to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), the average
deviation of the AZIR index from the policy rate narrowed to 0.05
percentage points in the first half of 2026, from 0.21 percentage
points in 2025.
The CBA said the narrowing spread indicates stronger
transmission of the policy rate to interest rates formed in the
interbank money market.
“In 2026, the parameters of the interest rate corridor have been
reviewed five times by the Central Bank’s Board. At the first
monetary policy meeting, the policy rate was reduced from 6.75% to
6.5%, while the upper bound of the interest rate corridor was
lowered from 7.75% to 7.5% and the lower bound from 5.75% to 5.5%.
At subsequent meetings, the Central Bank kept the interest rate
corridor parameters unchanged,” the CBA said.
The bank said monetary policy decisions were made taking into
account actual and projected inflation within the target range, the
regional geopolitical situation, trends in global financial
markets, the domestic macroeconomic environment and the
characteristics of monetary policy transmission.
The CBA added that decisions on the interest rate corridor were
announced to the public according to a previously published
schedule and accompanied by relevant analytical commentary.
