Turkey to continue fight against inflation: Official

By Kerem Kocalar

GAZIANTEP, Turkey (AA) - Turkey will continue to fight inflation and high interest rates, the country's treasury and finance minister said Thursday.

"We have achieved success against inflation, exchange and interest rates, but it is not enough," Berat Albayrak said in an event in Turkey's southeastern province Gaziantep.

Turkey's annual inflation rate, which surpassed 25% in 2018, dropped gradually over the last year as low as 8%, with the most recent figure in January being 11.8%.

Commenting on the Central Bank's 50-basis-point reduction in interest rates on Wednesday, he said the bank continues to use all of its instruments to fulfill financial stability targets.

The Central Bank cut interest rates from 24% to 12% over the last year, lowering the rate from 12% to 10.75% in the first two monetary policy meetings of 2020. The bank will hold 10 more meetings this year.

The improvement in macro-economic indicators and markets will spread to every segment of the society, Albayrak added.

*Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun