Turkish Central Bank Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged

The Turkish Central Bank on Thursday kept its one-week repo rate, also known as the policy rate, unchanged at 14% in line with market expectations.

The bank said in a statement that the escalating geopolitical risks in the first half of this year caused a weakening in the worldwide economic activity.

"Global growth forecasts for the upcoming period are being revised downwards. Increasing concern over global food security driven by trade restrictions, high course of commodity prices, the persistence of supply constraints in some sectors, particularly in food and energy, and high transportation costs have led to producer and consumer price increases internationally," the statement read.


"Moreover, central banks in advanced economies emphasize that the rise in inflation may last longer than previously anticipated due to rising energy prices and imbalances between supply and demand," it added.

Turkiye's annual consumer inflation hit a new record high of 73.50% in May, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

It is the sixth consecutive meeting that the Turkish Central Bank kept its policy rate steady. Its last interest rate change came in December 2021 when the bank cut its policy rate by 100 basis points from 15% to 14%. -