Turkey's Central Bank cuts policy rate to single-digit

Turkey's Central Bank has once again slashed its policy rate by 150 basis points to 9%, as expected.

Duvar English - Anadolu Agency

Turkey's Central Bank on Nov. 24 lowered its policy interest rate by 150 basis points to 9%.

The bank stressed that it had decided to end the cycle of rate cuts that started in August as its current level is "adequate.”

The key rate has been lowered by 500 basis points since August despite high inflation rate.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has deemed interest rate his “biggest enemy,” vowing to pressure the central bank to lower the key interest rate further. He previously called for a single-digit rate by year-end.

Inflation has surged since autumn 2021, stoked by an unorthodox easing cycle of 500 basis points that sparked a currency crisis late last year.

In October, the government-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported an annual inflation rate of 85.51 percent, the highest since 1998, whereas the independent inflation group ENAG put the figure at 185.34 percent.

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