Hurriyet English
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ağustos 14, 2008 17:49
Turkey's central bank raised benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points on Thursday to 17 percent as expected on Thursday, a statement issued on the central bank's official website said.
The central bank announced the decision to increase the overnight borrowing rate to 17 percent and the lending rate to 20.50 percent following its August Monetary Policy Committee meeting.
Turkey had increased interest rates in the April-July period to fight inflation fueled by rising global oil and food costs. The benchmark borrowing rate hike, totaling 1.5 percentage points during this period, had raised the rate to 16.75 percent.
The central bank's decision to increase the rates was widely not expected by analysts.