Serbia interest rate rises to 6% in November 2026
The National Bank of Serbia raised its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 6% on 12 November 2026, the first change after ten meetings on hold at 5.75%.
The facts
- The Executive Board of the National Bank of Serbia raised the key policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.00% at its meeting on 12 November 2026. It is the first change after ten consecutive meetings at 5.75%, from 12 January to 8 October.
- The rate corridor moved with it: the deposit facility rate is 4.75%, the lending facility rate 7.25%, each set 1.25 percentage points from the policy rate, and the discount rate tracks the policy rate at 6.00%.
- The Board said it decided to tighten monetary conditions in light of actual and expected inflation, and described the rise as an adequate and timely measure against second-round effects of the energy shock on other prices.
- The bank cites year-on-year inflation rising to 4.1% in September, with petroleum product prices more than 17% higher than a year earlier.
- It expects inflation to exceed the upper bound of its 3±1.5% target tolerance band next year and to return within the band by the end of 2027. The release also cites a flash estimate of 4.0% GDP growth for the third quarter of 2026 and names uncertainty from the conflict in the Middle East.
- The next rate-setting meeting is on 10 December. The bank publishes no date from which the new rate applies.
What it means for your money
- Borrowing in dinars just got dearer. The lending facility now sits at 7.25%, a quarter point higher.
- Glopra data put the average city-centre price across Serbian cities at USD 2,855 per square metre and the average city-centre asking rent at USD 9.92 per square metre a month, so the rent an investor can charge has to absorb a financing cost that has just moved against them.
- An existing owner on a variable-rate loan carries this directly, while a cash buyer does not. Serbian rental income is taxed at an effective 15% and transaction costs run to 8.8% of the price, both unchanged by this decision.
- The direction matters more than the 25 basis points. Ten meetings on hold had made 5.75% the planning assumption, and the bank's own forecast now has inflation above its tolerance band through next year.
What to watch
- The 10 December meeting is the next decision point, and the bank gave no guidance on the path beyond it.
- The inflation path above the 3±1.5% band and the return to it by end-2027 are the bank's own forecast, not a measurement.
- No effective date is published for the new rate, so when it reaches an individual loan contract depends on that contract's repricing terms.
Sources: National Bank of Serbia https://www.nbs.rs/en/scripts/showcontent/index.html?id=21897; National Bank of Serbia https://www.nbs.rs/en/ciljevi-i-funkcije/monetarna-politika/kamatne-stope/