Serbia's central bank holds key rate at 5.75 percent
The National Bank of Serbia kept its key policy rate at 5.75 percent, while a cap on variable rates on housing loans cuts the average monthly instalment by 6 to 10 percent.
- The Executive Board of the National Bank of Serbia held the key policy rate at 5.75 percent.
- The deposit facility rate (4.5 percent) and the lending facility rate (7.0 percent) remain unchanged.
- With the cap on variable rates, housing-loan borrowers save an average of 6 to 10 percent on their instalment.
- The next rate-setting session is scheduled for July 9, 2026.
The National Bank of Serbia’s key policy rate stands at 5.75 percent and, after the June session of the Executive Board, remains unchanged. It is a decision that does not make daily headlines, yet it shows up on every monthly instalment for anyone repaying a loan tied to a variable rate.
Alongside the key rate, two accompanying rates were also held steady. The deposit facility rate is 4.5 percent and the lending facility rate is 7.0 percent. That spread, known as the interest rate corridor, sets how much banks earn when they park money at the central bank and how much it costs them to borrow from it. When the corridor does not move, expectations about the price of money on the market do not move either.
The official mid exchange rate on the day of the decision was 117.3777 dinars to the euro, confirming that there is currently no currency pressure that would force a shift in policy.
What exactly does a housing-loan borrower get?
The answer is most concrete for people repaying a home. From January 1, 2026 until the end of 2027, a cap on variable rates for housing loans is in force. The mechanism is simple: even if the market benchmark to which the instalment is tied were to rise, the bank cannot pass it on to the borrower above the legally set limit.
Under that cap, borrowers save an average of 6 to 10 percent on their monthly instalment. On a loan with an instalment of 50,000 dinars, that is between 3,000 and 5,000 dinars a month, or 36,000 to 60,000 dinars a year. This is money that stays in the household budget, not a one-off concession that exists only on paper.
It is worth separating two things. Holding the key rate means the price of money is not rising, so instalments tied to it stay still. The cap on housing loans is a separate, statutory protection that works regardless of what the central bank does with the key rate. Together the two measures give households a period of predictability, which for budget planning is often worth more than the level of the rate itself.
When is the next decision and what to watch
The next Executive Board session on the key rate is scheduled for July 9, 2026. Until then the key rate will not change, so borrowers with variable loans can count on a stable instalment over that period.
For anyone considering a new housing loan, the steady rate and the cap on variable interest reduce the risk of unpleasant surprises in instalments over the next two years. That does not make the loan cheap in absolute terms, but it makes it predictable, and predictability is what a household budget struggles with most when it is missing.
The most important number to watch before July is not the key rate itself but inflation and the dinar exchange rate, because they will determine whether the central bank eventually has room to cut. A lower key rate means cheaper money, and that ultimately feeds through to instalments.
For your household budget, what matters more: a lower instalment today, or the certainty that it will not change over the next two years?
