INTEREST RATES Turkey’s central bank raises interest rate less than expected, to 17.5%

By Aya Jootar  Published On July 20, 2023

Turkey’s central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate by 250 basis points to 17.5%, coming in below analyst forecasts of 500 basis points as the country’s monetary policymakers embark on a long and painful mission to tackle double-digit inflation.

“Monetary tightening will be further strengthened as much as needed in a timely and gradual manner until a significant improvement in the inflation outlook is achieved,” the bank said in a statement, following its interest rate decision.

The Turkish lira fell about half a percentage point against the dollar on the news, trading at 26.92 to the greenback. Earlier this week, the lira hit a fresh record low of 26.9 against the dollar over market concerns that the coming rate rise would be less than expected. The currency has lost 30% of its value against the dollar this year.

In June, Turkey lifted its interest rate for the first time in more than two years, after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed policymakers who had vowed to implement economic orthodoxy to turn around the inflation picture.

Source: CNBC


Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*