Bangladesh Bank (BB) is set to announce its first-ever quarterly Monetary Policy Statement (MPS) tomorrow, replacing the existing six-month monetary policy cycle.
The central bank will unveil the MPS for October-December 2026 at a press conference at 3:00pm, with BB Deputy Governor Md Habibur Rahman scheduled to attend as the chief guest.
The move is aimed at making monetary policy more responsive to rapidly changing domestic and global economic conditions.
Bangladesh Bank had previously announced monetary policy annually before shifting to a half-yearly framework.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had recommended adopting a quarterly monetary policy framework.
A BB policy panel also recommended in July this year that the central bank issue monetary policy statements every three months to enhance the responsiveness, transparency and effectiveness of monetary policy.
The development comes amid continuing pressure on prices, although inflation has recently shown signs of easing.
The country's overall inflation declined for the third consecutive month to 8.26 percent in August, the lowest in 10 months, after reaching 9.42 percent in May.
Bangladesh Bank had kept its policy rate at 10 percent since October 2024. In July this year, however, it reduced the policy or repo rate to 9.5 percent from 10 percent, marking the first cut in six years.
The July MPS projected inflation to come down to 8.9 percent by December 2026 and 8.6 percent by June 2027, although both projections remained above the government's FY27 inflation ceiling of 7.5 percent.
The quarterly MPS is expected to provide Bangladesh Bank with greater flexibility to reassess monetary conditions and adjust its policy stance in response to changes in inflation, economic activity and global developments.
