Turkey's Central Bank keeps interest rates steady

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's Central Bank on Wednesday kept its one-week repo rate -- also known as the policy rate -- steady at 19%, in line with market expectations.

After the committee's seventh Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the year, the bank said in a statement: "The strong recovery in the global demand, increasing trend of commodity prices, supply constraints in some sectors and the rise in transportation costs have led to producer and consumer price increases internationally."

"The effects of the rising global inflation and inflation expectations on international financial markets remain significant," it added.

A total of 15 economists surveyed by Anadolu Agency last week forecast no change in interest rates.

The bank had also kept its benchmark interest rate constant at 19% in its previous Monetary Policy Committee meeting last month.

Turkey's annual inflation rate stands at 17.53% in June, according to the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute.