(Bloomberg) -- Mozambique’s central bank became the first in Africa to cut rates for a third straight time this year and indicated that it will continue to ease. 

The Banco de Mocambique lowered its benchmark lending rate, known by its Portuguese acronym Mimo, by 75 basis points for a third successive time to 15%, Governor Rogerio Zandamela told reporters Monday in the capital, Maputo. 

The trend will be to keep reducing the rate but future decisions will be data dependent, Zandamela said.

The move makes the liquefied natural gas producer an outlier among African central banks. Only two others have lowered rates this year, with the rest either raising or standing pat amid price-pressure concerns. 

The decision was aided by expectations that inflation will remain in single digits in the medium term because of stability in the metical and the less severe impact of geopolitical tensions on the prices of international goods, the governor said.

Inflation quickened to 3.3% in April but is significantly lower than its post-pandemic peak of 13% in 2022. 

The International Monetary Fund earlier this month said that due to Mozambique’s high reserve requirements, its overall monetary stance remains tight and urged it to cut rates. Further easing of monetary policy would be appropriate, the Washington-based lender said, pointing to well-anchored inflation expectations and decreasing credit to businesses.

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