Turkish Central Bank lowers interest rates by 50bps

Turkish Central Bank lowers interest rates by 50bps

ISTANBUL
Turkish Central Bank lowers interest rates by 50bps

The Turkish Central Bank on May 21 lowered its one-week repo rate by 50 base points, in line with market expectation.

A statement from the bank's fifth of 12 Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings scheduled for this year said the policy rate was dropped to 8.25% from 8.75%.

According to Anadolu Agency's survey on Monday, a group of 17 economists expected a drop in one-week repo rate with a median of 50 base points.

In April, the Central Bank cut its interest rate by full point amid coronavirus fears to 8.75% from 9.75% following reductions over the last ten months.

Since the beginning of this year, the bank has cut the rate by a total of 375 basis points.

In 2019, the bank cut the rate gradually by 1,200 basis points to 12% from 24%.

Turkey,