Interest Rates, List by Country

This page has a list of countries ranked by its benchmark interest rate. Central banks conduct their monetary policy by controlling some overnight or short term interest rates. Central banks use these rates to lend money to commercial banks influencing mortgage rates and other types of loans. Central bank interest rates are one of the most effective tools to promote growth and keep inflation under certain limits. For instance, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank aims at keeping annual inflation under 2% while the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve has a dual mandate of promoting sustainable growth and maintaining price stability. Stocks and bond markets are also influenced by these benchmark rates because high interest rates reduce the present value of future cash flows, thereby reducing the attractiveness of investment opportunities.

Country	Latest	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
Kenya	18.00	18.00	6.00	7.00	8.50	8.75	10.00	8.07
Venezuela	15.55	15.55	17.89	17.74	17.73	20.21	14.63	14.09
Mozambique	15.00	15.00	15.50	11.50
Ghana	12.50	12.50	13.50	18.00	17.00	13.50	12.50	15.50
Mongolia	12.25	12.25	11.00	10.00	14.00	8.40
Nigeria	12.00	12.00	6.25	6.00	9.75	9.50
Pakistan	12.00	12.00	14.00	12.50	15.00	10.00	9.50	9.00
Brazil	10.50	11.00	10.75	8.75	13.75	11.25	13.25	18.00
Angola	10.25	10.50	25.00	30.00	19.60	19.60	14.00	95.00
Botswana	9.50	9.50	9.50	10.00	15.00	14.50	15.00
Egypt	9.25	9.25	8.25	8.25	11.50	9.00	9.00	10.00
Argentina	9.00	9.00	9.00	9.80	11.50	8.95	7.63	4.13
Vietnam	9.00	9.00	8.00	8.00	8.50	8.25	8.25	8.25
Paraguay	8.00	8.00	4.50
Russia	8.00	8.00	7.75	8.75	13.00	10.00	11.00	12.00
Ukraine	7.75	7.75	7.75	10.25	12.00	8.00	8.50	9.50
Tanzania	7.58	7.58	7.58	3.70	15.99	16.89	20.07	19.33
India	7.50	7.50	5.25	3.25	5.00	6.00	6.00	5.25
Kazakhstan	7.50	7.50	7.00	7.00	10.50	11.00
Bangladesh	7.25	7.25	5.50	4.50	8.75
Hungary	7.00	7.00	5.75	6.25	10.00	7.50	8.00	6.00
Rwanda	7.00	7.00	6.00	7.50	8.00	9.00	9.00	9.00
Sri Lanka	7.00	7.00	7.25	7.50	10.50	10.50	10.00	8.75
China	6.56	6.56	5.56	5.31	5.31	7.29	6.12	5.58
Indonesia	6.00	6.00	6.50	6.50	9.25	8.00	9.75	12.75
Namibia	6.00	6.00	6.00	7.00	10.50	10.50
Turkey	5.75	5.75	6.50	6.50	15.00	15.75	17.50	13.50
Romania	5.50	6.00	6.25	8.00	10.25	7.50	8.75	7.50
South Africa	5.50	5.50	5.50	7.00	11.50	10.50	8.50	7.00
Chile	5.00	5.25	3.25	0.50	8.25	5.75	5.25	4.50
Colombia	5.00	4.75	3.00	3.50	9.50	9.50	7.25	6.00
Iceland	4.75	4.75	4.50	10.00	18.00	13.75	13.30	9.97
Mexico	4.50	4.50	4.50	4.50	8.25	7.50	7.00	8.25
Poland	4.50	4.50	3.50	3.50	5.00	5.00	4.00	4.50
Qatar	4.50	4.50	5.55	5.55	5.55	5.55	5.55	5.10
Australia	4.25	4.25	4.75	3.75	4.25	6.75	6.25	5.50
Peru	4.25	4.25	3.00	1.25	6.50	5.00	4.50	3.25
Philippines	4.25	4.50	4.00	4.00	5.90	5.40	7.50	7.50
Algeria	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00	4.00
Macedonia	4.00	4.00	4.11	8.50	7.00	4.77	5.74	8.52
Latvia	3.50	3.50	3.50	4.00
Tunisia	3.50	3.50	4.50	4.50	5.25	5.25	5.25
Morocco	3.25	3.25	3.25	3.25	3.50	3.25	3.25	3.25
South Korea	3.25	3.25	2.50	2.00	3.00	5.00	4.50	3.75
Malaysia	3.00	3.00	2.75	2.00	3.25	3.50	3.50	3.00
Thailand	3.00	3.25	2.00	1.25	2.75	3.25	5.00	4.00
Israel	2.50	2.75	2.00	1.00	2.50	4.00	4.50	4.50
New Zealand	2.50	2.50	3.00	2.50	5.00	8.25	7.25	7.00
Saudi Arabia	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	2.50	5.50	5.20	4.50
Taiwan	1.88	1.88	1.63	1.25	2.00	3.38	2.75	2.25
Lithuania	1.75	1.75	1.75	1.75	3.00	5.00	4.25	3.00
Norway	1.75	1.75	2.00	1.50	3.00	5.00	3.25	2.25
Sweden	1.75	1.75	1.25	0.25	2.00	4.00	2.75	1.50
Bolivia	1.65		0.86	1.94	5.82	4.70	3.57	4.46
Canada	1.00	1.00	1.00	0.25	1.50	4.25	4.25	3.00
Euro Area	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	2.50	4.00	3.25	2.25
United Arab Emirates	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.00	1.50	4.25
Czech Republic	0.75	0.75	0.75	1.00	2.25	3.50	2.50	2.00
Denmark	0.70	0.70	1.05	1.20	3.75	4.25	3.75	2.40
Hong Kong	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	5.75	6.75	5.50
United Kingdom	0.50	0.50	0.50	0.50	2.00	5.50	5.00	4.50
United States	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.25	4.25	5.25	4.00
Bulgaria	0.18	0.20	0.18	0.55	5.77	4.58	3.26	2.05
Singapore	0.01	0.02	0.13	0.01	0.06	0.13	2.75	1.56
Japan	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.10	0.10	0.50	0.25
Switzerland	0.00	0.00	0.25	0.25	0.50	2.75	1.75	0.75