Bangladesh’s central bank maintained its key policy rate at 8.5% to support economic growth while controlling inflation, which began to ease last month, standing at 9.72% in June, down from 9.89% in May. The IMF estimates that the policy rate might need to reach 9% by mid-fiscal year to reduce inflation to 7% by June. The central bank also continued its crawling peg system at 117 taka per USD, introduced in May, to stabilize the taka and transition towards a fully flexible exchange rate system, aiming to preserve its USD reserves.