Aysu Bicer
20 January 2022•Update: 20 January 2022
ANKARA
The Turkish Central Bank on Thursday is set to announce its decision on the interest rate for the time this year, with analysts expecting no change in the key policy rate.
All economists surveyed by Anadolu Agency predicted that the policy rate will be kept constant at 14%.
Foreign financial institutions also expect the bank to keep interest rates stable.
Societe Generale expects no change in interest rate, while Unicredit forecasts the bank will avoid a decision that will trigger the depreciation of Turkish lira, keeping the policy rate at 14%.
Bank of America also expects the bank to keep the policy rate constant until the end of the first quarter.
Earlier, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said inflation would reach its peak in January, however, there would be a decrease as of May with the developments in the world and the decline in food and energy prices.
Turkiye posted a 36% annual hike in consumer prices in 2021, the highest in 19 years.
Nabati also voiced support for the Central Bank's decision to monitor the effect of the easing in the first quarter.
"I don't know how the Central Bank will take a decision. In my opinion, we should see January, February and March," he said.
The volatility is high in global markets due to inflation concerns, faster tightening expectations in monetary policies, rise in bond interest rates, and increasing geopolitical risks.
While the expectations that the central banks will tighten their monetary policies more rapidly continue to affect the investor risk perception negatively, the increasing tension between Russia, the US and NATO over Ukraine is also at the center of the global agenda.
