Turkey’s Central Bank keeps policy rate constant

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s Central Bank on Wednesday kept its one-week repo rate -- also known as the policy rate -- constant at 24 percent.

"Recently released data show that rebalancing trend in the economy has become more noticeable," the bank said.

The decision came in a statement from the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, which is the second of eight meetings scheduled for 2019.

"External demand maintains its relative strength while economic activity displays a slow pace, partly due to tight financial conditions.

"Current account balance is expected to maintain its improving trend," the bank said.

Last week, all of the 19 economists surveyed by Anadolu Agency also forecast no change in interest rates.

In 2018, the bank held nine MPC meetings, as interest rates climbed from 8 percent to 24 percent over the course of the year.