Turkey’s Central Bank keeps interest rate steady at 14 percent, again

The Central Bank (CB) has kept the policy interest rate steady at 14 percent, in line with expectations. The decision to keep rates stable came despite regional risks, rising energy costs, a rise in foreign currency and inflation, which stood at 20 percent in April, a new 70-year peak.

Part of the text of the decision was as follows: “in order to institutionalize price stability in a sustainable way, the process of reviewing a wide-ranging policy framework that promotes permanent and strengthened lira in all policy instruments of the CBRT is underway. The collateral and liquidity policy steps that have been completed during the evaluation processes will be put into operation.”

MB had ended this process after the 500 basis point rate cut between September and December, which triggered the exchange rate crisis.