UPDATE - Turkish Central Bank cuts year-end inflation forecast

UPDATE WITH MORE REMARKS FROM CENTRAL BANK'S GOVERNOR

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's Central Bank on Wednesday cut its year-end inflation forecast for 2019 to 13.9%, down from 14.6% in its previous report.

The inflation rate will fluctuate between 11.5% and 16.3% through the end of this year, Central Bank Governor Murat Uysal said during Inflation Report 2019-III presentation meeting held in the capital Ankara.

The bank kept inflation forecasts constant for next year and 2021 at 8.2% and 5.4%, respectively.

The downward revision is driven by assumptions for lower food prices and Turkish Lira denominated import prices, and lower-than-projected inflation at the second quarter of this year and improvement in the underlying trend, he said.

"Under a tight monetary policy stance and strong policy coordination focused on bringing inflation down, inflation is projected to converge gradually to the target of 5%," he said.

Uysal underlined that the bank continues to use all available tools to ensure financial stability when necessary.

The bank also decreased its food inflation forecast to 15% for this year, down from 16% in the previous report, Uysal said.