The date is approaching for those who will buy a house and a vehicle.

In global markets, while a negative trend is observed following the signal from the Federal Reserve (Fed) that it may slow down the easing cycle next year despite cutting interest rates by 25 basis points, domestic attention has turned to the monetary policy decisions of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT). The Central Bank's interest rate decision meeting will be held on Thursday, December 26, 2024.

Last week in the U.S., the Fed lowered the policy interest rate by 25 basis points to a range of 4.25-4.50, in line with expectations. This reduction was the third cut made by the Fed this year. The bank raised its forecast for the federal funds rate for next year from 3.4% to 3.9%, signaling that it would slow down interest rate cuts in 2025.

FED'S STEPS FOR 2025 HAVE BECOME CLEAR

The dot plot showing the future interest rate expectations of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members revealed that the Fed could make a total of 2 interest rate cuts amounting to 50 basis points in 2025. In statements made after the meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted that the monetary policy stance is significantly less restrictive, stating that they would be "more cautious" when evaluating future interest rate cuts. Powell mentioned that it could take another 1 or 2 years to reach the 2% inflation target, but he is confident that they are making progress in that direction. Following the Fed's interest rate decision and Powell's statements, market pricing indicates that the Fed is expected to keep the policy rate unchanged at its first meeting in 2025.

DOMESTIC FOCUS ON CBRT

Next week, the interest rate decision to be announced at the CBRT's Monetary Policy Committee meeting has become the focus of investors. Economists participating in the AA Finance expectation survey expect the CBRT to cut the policy interest rate by 150 basis points to 48.50%. The average expectation of economists for the policy interest rate at the end of 2025 is 29.50%. With the decrease in interest rates, it is expected that housing and vehicle loan rates will also decline. In this scenario, it is anticipated that housing and vehicle sales in Turkey will further increase.