Turkey hikes main interest rate to 17%

Turkey's central bank on Dec. 24 hiked its main interest rate by two percentage points to 17 percent and promised further monetary tightening to help tamp down soaring inflation.

"In the forthcoming period, tightness of the monetary policy stance will be decisively sustained until strong indicators point to a permanent fall in inflation in line with the targets and to price stability," the central bank said in a statement.

Following the move, the Turkish liras appreciated nearly 1% against the U.S. dollar.

In its last meeting on Nov. 19, the Central Bank increased its one-week repo rate from 10.25% to 15% while taking steps to simplify the operational framework of monetary policy.

Speaking on Monday, Naci Ağbal, the bank's governor, said the risk of upward inflation will require a tight and decisive monetary policy stance in 2021, adding that it will be tightened if needed.

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