Interest rate

In 2023, the BIST100 index remained below the performance of 2022 and inflation, but there is a premium of about 35 percent. The policy based on high-interest rates, which changed with the new economic management after the elections, mobilized alternative markets. Interest rates, foreign exchange and gold protected investors relatively from inflation compared to the stock market.

The yield of the Greek 10-year bond, the benchmark of the Greek debt market, has now dropped below 3%, at the lowest levels since April 2022, when the main interest rate of the European Central Bank was still at negative levels.

One of the pillars of Greek banks' profitability has been the limited increase in interest rates on deposits, leading to the highest interest spread in the eurozone - i.e. the difference between loan interest rates and deposit interest rates.

Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan will travel to New York next month to meet with investors.

As part of the "Investor Day" event to be held on Jan. 11, Erkan will make a presentation to foreign investors on monetary policy and inflation, according to the invitation the Central Bank sent to investors.

Stock markets fell yesterday as traders took a step back following last week's rally, with Federal Reserve officials looking to temper expectations the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates several times next year.

BELGRADE - The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Executive Board decided on Thursday to keep the key policy rate on hold at 6.50 pct.

It did not change the rates on deposit (5.25 pct) and lending facilities (7.75 pct) either, the NBS said.

The interest rate spread between new deposits and loans remained almost unchanged at 5.71% in October as the weighted average interest rate on new deposits increased to 0.46%, while the corresponding rate on new loans remained almost unchanged at 6.17%, the Bank of Greece said on Monday.

Mortgage interest rates in Cyprus climbed to 4.91% in October 2023, according to data released by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) in its November 2023 edition of Monetary and Financial Statistics. Concurrently, household fixed-term deposits with a one-year maturity dropped to 1.58% compared to the previous month.

The sharp and large increase in the European Central Bank interest rates is developing into a strategic advantage for the Greek holiday home market: It has made potential buyers focus on markets such as Greece, where it is still possible to acquire a holiday home without needing a bank loan.

Foreign fund inflows to Türkiye are likely to gather momentum not after but before the local elections, says Hakan Aran, the general manager of İşbank, one of Türkiye's largest private banks.

The consensus is that foreign investors' interest in Türkiye usually increases before elections, he said.