The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) lowered its benchmark rate to 36% Thursday, Oct. 22, citing a slower underlying inflation trend while keeping future decisions tied to the price outlook.
At its Thursday meeting, the committee moved the one-week repo rate down by one percentage point, from 37% to 36%. It also set the overnight lending rate at 39%, compared with 40% before, and lowered the overnight borrowing rate to 34.5% from 35.5%.
Anadolu Ajansı reported that the decision followed five consecutive meetings without a rate change.
The CBRT said recent inflation data and leading indicators pointed to a slower underlying pace of price growth. It described domestic demand as weak and warned that elevated energy prices amid geopolitical tensions could put renewed upward pressure on inflation. The bank’s medium-term inflation target is 5%.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) put September’s annual inflation rate at 29.73%, compared with 31.51% in August. Consumer prices rose 1.84% over the month, leaving the annual measure above the CBRT’s target.
The CBRT’s September meeting summary had kept the repo rate at 37% and described indicators as suggesting that underlying inflation was slowing. In October, it treated the evidence as firmer, saying recent readings confirmed that trend.
The committee framed future policy as conditional: officials would revisit the scale and timing of policy moves at each meeting, guided by inflation prospects, and could tighten if the outlook worsened significantly for a sustained period.
Commerzbank analyst Tatha Ghose forecast USD/TRY at 52.0 by year-end, in comments reported by FXStreet. The figure is an analyst assessment, not a projection from Türkiye’s central bank.
The CBRT is due to publish its October meeting summary Friday, Oct. 30. Its next policy decision is scheduled for Dec. 10, according to the central bank calendar.
