Monetary policy

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.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) has confirmed Türkiye's credit rating as "B" and changed its credit rating outlook from "stable" to "positive."

"Confidence in our medium-term program is increasing," Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek wrote on social media platform X on Dec.1, commenting on S&P's move.

One of the main pillars of the medium-term program is to establish the disinflation course, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said, adding that they aim to bring inflation under control this year and lower it to single digits in 2025-26.

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.

The underlying trend of inflation has started to decline, and the inflation will decrease in the second half of 2024 after reaching its peak, Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan has said.

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.

Turkish government bonds are becoming more attractive following the Central Bank's monetary policy adjustment in recent months, BNP Paribas has said in a recent report.

Policy rates and local deposit rates have already adjusted sufficiently to provide positive ex-ante real rates versus inflation expectations, it said.

Refinancing pressures have reduced for Turkish banks, following the post-election policy shift that includes progress towards a more conventional policy mix, and normalization of monetary policy, as evidenced by banks' recent market access, Fitch has said in a recent report.

Annual inflation in Bulgaria slowed down in October to 5.8% from 6.3% a month earlier, according to the data of the National Statistical Institute (NSI). This is the lowest inflation in the country since September 2021.

Since the beginning of the year (October 2023 vs. October 2022), inflation is 4.1 percent.