Turkey’s central bank unexpectedly raised its key interest rate from 42.5 per cent to 46 per cent on Thursday, in its first monetary policy meeting since the arrest of President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s main political rival and the Trump administration unleashed a global trade war.
The surprise decision, which Turkey’s central bank described as a show of monetary “decisiveness”, comes after political instability hammered domestic assets last month and sent the lira currency to a record low.
The bank reversed a previous cycle of rate cuts, also raising its overnight lending rate to 49 per cent from 46 per cent, and said it would tighten policy further if there were any signs of rising inflation.