ANKARA (XINHUA) – Turkiye’s central bank held its key interest rate steady at 50 per cent yesterday for the eighth straight month, in line with market expectations.
“The underlying trend of inflation registered a decline in October,” the bank said in a statement, but added that while inflation expectations and pricing behaviour tend to improve, they continue to pose risks to the disinflation process.
The tight monetary stance will be maintained until a significant and sustained decline in the underlying trend of monthly inflation, and inflation expectations converge to the projected forecast range, the bank said.
Turkiye has been grappling with rising inflation and one of the worst cost-of-living crises in its history. From June 2023 to March this year, the central bank raised its key interest rate from 8.5 per cent to 50 per cent to tighten monetary policy and has kept the interest rate unchanged since March.
Turkiye’s annual inflation rate eased to 48.58 per cent in October, according to the official data, still above the government forecasts. Amid stubborn price pressures, the central bank earlier this month raised consumer inflation forecasts for this year and 2025, from previously 38 per cent and 14 per cent to 44 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively.
