DAR ES SALAAM, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Tanzania’s central bank left its key interest rate TZINTR=ECI unchanged at 6% on Wednesday, holding it steady for a third consecutive policy meeting, with an aim of keeping inflation below its target.

When it launched the rate in January 2024, the bank set it at 5.50%. The bank targets inflation of 5%, and consumer inflation has stayed comfortably below that figure.

Inflation is forecast to stay around the range of 3.1% and 4% in the first quarter, Bank of Tanzania Governor Emmanuel Tutuba said in a statement.

Tanzania’s economy is forecast to grow by about 6% this year from an estimated 5.4% in 2024, its finance minister and central bank governor said in November in a letter to the International Monetary Fund.

The economy is forecast to grow 5.7% year-on-year in the first quarter, Tutuba said.

(Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Bernadette Baum)