Uzbekistan’s Central Bank said on Thursday it had kept its basic rate unchanged at 14 percent based on the expectation of a more stable downward forecast trend in inflation and maintaining a balance between the macroeconomic stability and business activity in the context of economic recovery.

The Central Bank will consider the possibility of cutting the key rate by the end of the year if the inflation rate remains in the target area, the bank’s chairman Mamarizo Nurmuratov said.

However, he warned that monetary policy decisions would depend on external factors, including food prices on the world markets that might affect the consumer price index in the populous Central Asian country.

Uzbekistan’s inflation forecast for this year is 10 percent and the government wants to achieve a 5 percent target by 2023.

After a decline in January, economic activity continued to recover in February-March, the regulator said.

The country’s gross domestic product grew by 3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the State Statistics Committee said.