The Central Bank of Turkey maintained the maximum key interest rate

The Central Bank of Turkey, at its meeting on April 25, kept the key interest rate at 50% per annum. This is the highest level in 22 years.

The regulator made this decision despite the fact that inflation in the country accelerated to 68.5% in March.

Taking into account the lagging effect of tightening monetary policy, the regulator decided to keep the rate unchanged but confirmed that it continues to closely monitor inflationary risks.

It is worth reminding that in March, the Turkish Central Bank raised the rate by 500 basis points - from 45% to 50%. This decision was made against the backdrop of rising inflation, which turned out to be higher than forecasted.

The March decisions on monetary policy led to a significant tightening of financial conditions, the press release of the Central Bank of Turkey states.

At the end of February, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) kept the key rate unchanged at 45%.

Prior to this, the regulator had raised the rate for eight months. In January, the Central Bank predictably raised the key interest rate by 2.5 percentage points - from 42.5% to 45%. This level of the key rate also became the highest since 2003.