The Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic considered the following issues and adopted the subsequent resolutions at the meeting held on February 25, 2015: 

1. Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic № 13\8 from February 25, 2015 “On amendments and supplements to the Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic № 48/7 from November 14, 2007 “On the fee amount for the license issued by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic”; 

2. Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic № 3/11 from February 25, 2015 “On Instruction relating to the establishment by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic of the sale and repurchase price for the refined standard bullions issued by the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic”; 

3. Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic № 3/12 from February 25, 2015 “On approval of Regulations on sale and repurchase by the National Bank of the refined standard bullions”; 

4. Resolution of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic № 13/13 from February 25, 2015 “On approval of Instruction relating to conducting an assessment of the refined standard bullions”. 

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic has decided to remain the discount rate unchanged at 11 percent 

On February 24, 2015 a meeting of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic was held where a decision was made to remain the discount rate unchanged at 11 percent.  

At the Board meeting it was noted that the excessive inflationary background and the pressure on the domestic currency market due to the ongoing since last year internal and external risks remain. As of mid-February, the annual inflation rate was 10.9 percent. The economy of the Kyrgyz Republic and of the major trading partner countries continues to develop in the context of high uncertainty and vulnerability to shocks.  

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic will continue to monitor the situation in the economy of the country and in accordance with the legislation defined mandate will take appropriate measures of monetary policy aimed at achieving and maintaining in the medium-term the inflation rate at the level of approximately 7 percent, defined by the Main Directions of Monetary Policy of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic for the medium term. With the anticipated growth of the economy, to support the positive dynamics in the first quarter of 2015, it is expected to provide on an auction basis the financial resources to the banking sector in order to improve som liquidity to facilitate the development of the real sector. 

The next meeting of the Board of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic that will consider the issue of the size of discount rate is scheduled for March 30, 2015. 

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic held a discussion of the draft Agreement on Import of Banking Equipment in the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, the development of the national payment system and the upcoming Global Money Week. 

The Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic Mrs. Baktygul Jeenbaeva met with representatives of commercial banks and the union of legal entities "Union of Kyrgyz Banks". 

The parties discussed the draft agreement "On Import of Banking Equipment in the Territory of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2015-2017". 

Mrs. Baktygul Jeenbaeva reported that in January 2015, members of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic approved the draft law "On amendments to the Tax Code of the Kyrgyz Republic". The present Law provides an exemption from VAT payments on import of banking equipment. 

"At the plenary session the members of the Parliament expressed their desire for the imported equipment to be installed only in the regions of the country to ensure public access of the regions to the banking and payment services," said Mrs. Baktygul Jeenbaeva. 

Thus, the adoption of the present Agreement will allow to provide ATMs, POS-terminals, payment terminals, bank kiosks in the remote regions of the Kyrgyz Republic within the framework of the "State Program on the Increase in the Proportion of Non-Cash Payments and Settlements in the Kyrgyz Republic for 2012-2017". 

Such measure will contribute to the further expansion of the non-cash payment collection infrastructure in the regions of the country and the development of the payment system in the Kyrgyz Republic. 

The Deputy Chairman urged the representatives of commercial banks to pay special attention to the development of the national payment system "Elcart" to ensure the economic security of the country. 

"From January 1, 2015 the employees of the National Bank have completely switched to the "Elcart" card payroll project. Now we are going to work in this sphere as to ensure that the state-financed organizations and state institutions also shift to the national payment system payroll projects," said Mrs. Baktygul Jeenbaeva. 

In conclusion, Mrs. Baktygul Jeenbaeva reported that within the framework of events on the improvement of financial literacy among the public, from March 9 to 17, the country would host the Global Money Week under the auspices of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic. For a greater coverage of the population in the campaign, other financial institutions, associations and international organizations will also join the event. The framework of GMW provides for the arrangement of seminars, trainings, presentations on financial topics in schools of general education, secondary and higher educational institutions, organization of a national drawing competition among school-age children and excursions to the financial institutions. Mrs. Baktygul Jeenbaeva urged the banking sector not to stand on the sidelines of this event. 

The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic has summarized  

the monetary policy results for 2014 

The final traditional press conference was attended by the Chairman of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic Mr. Tolkunbek Abdygulov, the Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic Mrs. Lada Orozbaeva, the Heads of the Economic Department and the Monetary Operations Department of the National Bank – Mr. Seyilbek Urustemov and Mrs. Raushan Seytkasymova. 

During the press conference, the Chairman of the NBKR spoke about the performance indicators of monetary policy and banking sector for the current year. "Last year, the National Bank changed the framework of monetary policy, the mechanism for determining the discount rate. Previously, the size of discount rate was tied to the yield of the NBKR notes; today, the size of discount rate is determined on a monthly basis by the Board of the National Bank based on the assessment of the economy. At the last meeting we decided to leave the size of discount rate unchanged at 11%,"- he said.  

 "In 2014, the GDP of the country amounted to 397.3 billion KGS, having increased by 3.6% compared to the respective period of the last year. The inflation rate at the end of the year amounted to 10.5% (December 2014 to December 2013), the annual average inflation rate - 7.5%. The monetary base of the country reduced by 8 billion and 667.5 million KGS or by 11.9%, amounting to 64 billion and 471.9 million KGS. The loan portfolio of operating commercial banks for January-December 2014 reached 78 billion and 756.3 million KGS and increased by 45.95%. In 2013, the growth of the loan portfolio amounted to 34.55%. During the year, the average interest rates on the newly issued loans decreased in national currency by 1.19 percentage points, reaching 20.13%; in foreign currency - by 2.73 percentage points, reaching 14.95%. The volume of deposits in the operating commercial banks increased by 22.57%, and by the end of the reporting period amounted to 82 billion and 534.7 million KGS. In 2013, the growth of the deposit base was equal to 32.94%. The average interest rate on the newly accepted deposits in national currency increased by 0.16 percentage points and amounted to 2.49%, and in foreign currency - by 0.09 percentage points and amounted to 0.86%", - informed the Chairman of the National Bank. 

Regarding the financial market, he noted that the official exchange rate against KGS increased by 19.57%. The volume of transactions for the sale of foreign currency on the foreign exchange auctions, for 2014, amounted to 536.7 million US dollars; the volume of foreign currency purchase transactions - 20.5 million US dollars. The net sales amounted to 516.2 million US dollars; however, the international reserves declined by a lesser amount since the National Bank, in addition to interventions, also conducts operations on replenishment of its gold and foreign exchange reserves. "The currency exchange situation - strengthening of the dollar is a global trend that has affected most of the world. Currently, in the currency exchange situation in the country, there is no deficit in the dollar. The National Bank regularly monitors the current situation on the international financial markets and in the domestic market. Gross international reserves of the country constituted about 2 billion US dollars,"- said Mr. T. Abdygulov. 

Having announced the main results of the National Bank’s activities in 2014, participants of the press conference answered journalists’ questions. In particular, the media representatives were concerned about the issues of financial and currency exchange markets, the state of international reserves, the issue of promotion of the national bank card ELCART. Journalists were also interested in the position of the National Bank on the issue of impact of the Kyrgyz Republic’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. 

Licenses/certificates were issued to the following non-financial credit institutions and exchange offices: 

1. “GAIP” LLC (license № 5215 from February 26, 2015 for carrying out foreign exchange operations in cash). Legal address: M. Nurgazyev Street, the orienting point is the cafй “Ak-Tilek”, Batken, Batken region, Batken oblast.  

Certificates/licenses of the following non-financial credit institutions and exchange offices were annulled/revoked: 

1. License of the Credit Union Doul № 2 from October 29, 1997 is annulled. Legal address: 287 Lenin Street, Osh, Osh oblast.