Macroeconomic policy

The Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will meet for a fifth time this year to decide on the one-week repo auction rate.

Economists widely expect the bank to keep the key interest rate unchanged at 50 percent on May 23 as it did at the MPC meeting in April.

Türkiye has a credible, robust program to bring inflation down, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said, stressing that the monetary policy course correction "is largely done."

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek have unveiled savings measures package aimed at increasing efficiency in the public sector.

The measures have three main pillars: Public savings, discipline in the budget spending and efficiency in public investments, Şimşek said at a press conference in Ankara.

A series of measures designed to boost public savings will be announced on May 13, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said, without providing other details.

Şimşek has been saying for some time that the authorities have been working on steps to be taken to increase public savings.

Turkey's central bank finds itself grappling with the country's persistent inflationary turmoil, projecting that the crisis will culminate in May with rates skyrocketing to approximately 75-76%.

Expected post-election fiscal tightening would strengthen the effectiveness of Türkiye's monetary policy, in the context of weakened transmission channels, Fitch Ratings has said. 

"If sustained, this improvement in policy consistency should support lower inflation, a narrower current account deficit and a recovery in international reserves," the rating agency added.

The medium-term economic program is working and yielding the desired results, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said, vowing to further strengthen the program. 

"We are determined to resolve Türkiye's macroeconomic problems," Şimşek said in a speech he delivered at the Uludağ Economy Summit.

BELGRADE - The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Executive Board decided on Thursday to keep the key policy rate on hold at 6.50 pct and the rates on deposit (5.25 pct) and lending (7.75 pct) facilities were also kept unchanged.

The Central Bank has announced that it will scrap the implementation regarding securities maintenance based on loan growth while raising the monthly maximum interest rates to be charged for credit cards. 

The bank said it is considering terminating the securities maintenance practice "in a short while."

Türkiye's Central Bank has decided to opt for lifting the key policy rate, increasing the one-week repo auction rate from 45 percent to 50 percent.

Most economists had expected the Central Bank, which held the policy rate steady last month after eight straight increases, to keep the rate unchanged at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on March 21.