Maximum interest rate on credit cards not to change

ANKARA

The maximum interest rates for credit cards and maximum commission rates for merchants will remain unchanged in December, the Central Bank has announced.

The reference rate used in the calculation of maximum interest rates will remain the same in December, the bank said in a statement.

The reference rate is calculated based on the lower of the weighted average flow interest rate, which banks apply to Turkish Lira deposits with a maturity of 32-45 days, and the policy rate plus 10 percent.

The Central Bank on Nov. 23 hiked its policy rate by more-than-expected 500 basis points to 40 percent.

The bank separately announced that the new advance loans against investment commitment (ALAIC) program have been allocated an annual limit of 100 billion liras.

The program envisages a total limit allocation of 300 billion liras over the course of three years.

“Taking into account, a technology-strategy score of the firms’ investment projects with a minimum total investment amount of 1 billion Turkish Liras will be eligible for allocation of ALAIC via intermediary banks,” the bank said in a statement.

The interest rate for loans, which will be extended with a maximum maturity of 10 years, will be set between 30 percent and 15 percent, depending on the technology-strategy score, the ratio of external financing for the investment, and the financial soundness assessment.

In another statement, the bank announced that a cap is set for the total interest cost of rediscount credits for export and foreign exchange earning services.

The maximum discount rate for rediscount credits for export and foreign exchange earning services was kept constant at 25.93 percent, it said.