The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan maintained its base rate at 9.25% as it projected a potential pickup in inflation early next year.

The central bank said annual inflation is forecast to come in between 5.5% and 5.7% at the end of 2019 before slowing down to a range of 5.0% to 5.5% by the end of 2020.

In the first quarter of 2020, inflation may accelerate to the upper bound of the central bank's target range of 4% to 6% due to higher food prices and tariffs on services, the bank said.

Kazakhstan's economic growth is expected to weaken to a rate of 3.8% in 2020 from an estimated expansion of 4.2% in 2019, according to the central bank.