TASHKENT: The Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 14 percent per year, Trend reports. According to the CBU, this decision was made in order to curb the impact of changes in energy tariffs on inflation expectations. The bank notes that in May, headline inflation accelerated and reached 10.6 percent per year following an increase in energy prices for households. Excluding the energy prices, the inflation rate was 6.8 percent, which is attributed to a significant seasonal decline in food component. 'In April, inflation expectations of households and businesses rose to 14.0 and 13.3 percent, respectively, amid discussions about energy tariff changes and the cancellation of some tax incentives. In May, households' expectations remained unchanged at 14.0 percent, while the expectations of business entities fell to 12.7 percent. The impact of tariff changes on inflation expectations turns out to be lower than initially projected,' the CBU stressed. According to these cal culations, it is expected that macroeconomic development indicators and year-end inflation will be within the framework of the baseline scenario forecast. Earlier in April, the bank kept the level of the policy rate in Uzbekistan unchanged (14 percent per year) and projected the core inflation to amount to 7-8 percent by the end of the year and headline inflation under the main scenario to 9-11 percent. Source: Trend News Agency