UPDATE - Turkey's Central Bank lowers interest rates 50 bps

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey’s Central Bank on Wednesday lowered its one-week repo rate by 50 basis points.

The policy rate, also known as the one-week repo rate, dropped to 10.75% from 11.25%, the bank said in a statement issued after its second Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of this year.

An Anadolu Agency survey had forecasted a change between 25 and 75 basis points.

The bank scheduled 12 committee meetings for 2020.

Last year, it held eight MPC meetings, as interest rates fell 1,200 basis points over the course of the year, from 24% to 12%.

The bank said economic activity and sectoral diffusion continue to improve.

"Despite signs of recovery, investment and employment remain weak. While favorable effects of improved competitiveness prevail, weakening global economic outlook tempers external demand," the bank noted.

Touching on global issues, the bank stressed that it watches closely protectionism, uncertainty, geopolitical developments and the coronavirus outbreak.

"Developments in inflation expectations, domestic demand conditions and producer prices have contributed to a mild trend in core inflation indicators," it said.

"The course of inflation is considered to be broadly in line with the year-end inflation projection," the bank added.

The bank's inflation forecast for this year was 8.2%, while the new economic program targets 8.5%.

According to latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute, the country's inflation rate was 12.15% in January.