Turkish central bank raises key interest rate to 50% as inflation soars
Turkey’s central bank has raised its key interest rate by 5 percentage points, resuming a policy of rate hikes aimed at combating soaring inflation that is causing households severe economic pain
By AP News
Published - Mar 21, 2024, 07:48 AM ET
Last Updated - Mar 21, 2024, 07:54 AM EDT
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate by 5 percentage points on Thursday, resuming a policy of rate hikes aimed at combating soaring inflation that is causing households severe economic pain.
In a surprise decision, the central bank said it was raising the benchmark one-week repo rate to 50%. The bank had been widely expected to keep the benchmark rate steady for a second month, ahead of mayoral elections on March 31.
The bank said it had decided to raise the benchmark rate “in response to the deterioration in the inflation outlook.”
“Tight monetary stance will be maintained until a significant and sustained decline in the underlying trend of monthly inflation is observed,” the bank said.
