The Uzbekistan central bank’s board responded to inflationary and currency pressures with a 300bp rate hike on March 17. This brought the benchmark rate to 17%. It had been at 14% since September 2020.

The board said the hike was meant to counter higher commodity prices and currency depreciation, and to encourage saving in the domestic currency. The board’s monetary policy statement referred to “high uncertainties and tensions in the external economic environment”, likely a reference to the