Turkish central bank makes massive rate hikes to stem lira fall

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By Seda Sezer and Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's central bank hiked all of its key interest rates in dramatic fashion at an emergency midnight policy meeting, ignoring opposition from Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as it battles to defend the country's crumbling lira currency. The bank raised its overnight lending rate to 12 percent from 7.75 percent, its one-week repo rate to 10 percent from 4.5 percent, and its overnight borrowing rate to 8 percent from 3.5 percent - all much sharper moves than economists had forecast. A Reuters poll of 31 economists on Monday found a consensus pointing to a 2.25-percentage-point rise in the lending rate. Erdogan, keen to maintain economic growth ahead of an election cycle starting in two months, has been a vociferous opponent of higher borrowing costs, railing against what he describes as an "interest rate lobby" of speculators seeking to stifle growth and undermine the economy.




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