Turkey: CBRT leaves policy rate unchanged at 19% as expected

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) announced on Wednesday that it left its policy (one-week repo) rate unchanged at 19% as expected. 

Key takeaways from policy statement as summarized by Reuters

"Tight monetary policy stance will be maintained decisively until the significant fall in the April inflation report’s forecast path is achieved."

"Policy rate will continue to be determined at a level above inflation."

"High levels of inflation expectations continue to pose risks to the pricing behavior and inflation outlook."

"Decelerating impact of the monetary tightening on credit and domestic demand is being observed."

"Domestic economic activity is strong."

"Commercial loan growth exhibits a mild course."

"Personal loans recently displayed a rise due to the reopening and deferred demand."

"Current account is expected to post a surplus in the rest of the year."

Market reaction

The USD/TRY pair's reaction was to the CBRT's policy statement was largely muted. As of writing, the pair was little changed on the day at 8.6225.