The Mozambican central bank has cut its main interest rate by 100 basis points to 13.25 percent, the first change for six months, because inflation has slowed, AIM reports.

The Mozambican news agency quotes a written a statement issued by the monetary policy committee of the Bank of Mozambique as saying the committee also cut the standing lending facility rate by 100 basis points to 16.25 percent.

The central bank said the cuts were justified by what it called a “significant improvement” in inflation.

The report says the annual rate of consumer price inflation slowed to 2.42 percent in May, slowing for the fourth month in a row.

The Mozambican metical has strengthened against the U.S. dollar because the Mozambican current account deficit is being curbed, and because of action taken to bring order to the foreign exchange market and make it less opaque, AIM quotes the central bank as saying.