Czech Republic’s central bank cuts a key interest rate again to help the economy as inflation falls

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic’s central bank has cut its key interest rate for a third straight time amid falling inflation and an effort to help the economy. The cut by a half-percentage point brought the interest rate down to 5.75%. Wednesday’s move was expected by most analysts. The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21 which marked the first cut since June 22, 2022. It continued with a cut by a half-percentage point on Feb 8. The Czech Statistics Office says that inflation dropped to 2.0% year-on-year in February which equals the bank’s target.