The Bangladesh Bank will consider slashing the policy rate to 7 percent by March, provided that rampant inflation, which has hovered above 9 percent for nearly two years, eases to 5 percent by then, Governor Ahsan H Mansur said yesterday.

The new rate 7.75 percent will be effective from tomorrow

One key factor hampering the effectiveness of BB's policies is the delay in decision-making and significant transmission lags.

The 75 basis-point rise in policy rate will be effective from Oct 5