Czech central bank cuts a key interest rate again with inflation down and the economy on the mend

The Czech Republic’s central bank has cut its key interest rate for the fourth straight time as inflation dropped and the economy has shown signs of recovery. The cut by a half-percentage point on Thursday brought the interest rate down to 5.25%. The move was expected by analysts. Inflation dropped to 2.0% year-on-year in February. That equals the bank’s target and it remained unchanged at the same level in March. The Statistics Office says the Czech economy was up by 0.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024. And it increased by 0.5% compared with the last three months of the previous year.