The Bangladesh Bank decided to keep its key policy interest rates unchanged, taking into account the recent economic and financial sector developments.

The central bank maintained repo and reverse repo rates at 6.75% and 4.75%, respectively.

The bank projects GDP growth to be above 7% in the fiscal year ending June 30. Average inflation is expected to be around the range of 5.3% to 5.6%.

The central bank said the average CPI inflation declined to 5.5% by December 2016, well within the ceiling of 5.8% for the 2017 fiscal year. Private sector credit growth during the fiscal first half exceeded 15%, a three-year high but within the ceiling of 16.5%.