The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has announced the eagerly awaited interest rate decision. The policy rate, which was at 17.5 percent, has been increased to 25 percent. CBRT had last raised the interest rate from 15 percent to 17.5 percent in July.
Third Interest Rate Hike under the Presidency of Hafize Gaye Erkan
The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey Monetary Policy Committee has announced the highly anticipated interest rate decision. With this decision, under the presidency of Hafize Gaye Erkan, the interest rate has been increased for the third time, exceeding market expectations, from 17.5 percent to 25 percent. Market expectations were for the interest rate to be raised to 20 percent.
The Monetary Policy Committee had previously raised the policy rate from 15 percent to 17.5 percent with a 250 basis point increase last month, which was also below market expectations.
Before the start of the Erkan era, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey Monetary Policy Committee had kept the policy rate at 8.5 percent for the past three months. The first interest rate hike during Erkan’s term was made in June, and the policy rate, which was held at 8.5 percent for a while, was increased to 15 percent.
The Course of Bitcoin Against the Turkish Lira
Bitcoin (BTC), which experienced a sharp drop of over 10 percent against the US dollar in global markets last week, has continued to be priced above the 26,000 level since the weekend. The largest cryptocurrency is currently trading at 26,444, representing a daily increase of 1.77 percent against the US dollar at the time of writing this article.
Binance exchange is currently at 729,325 against the Turkish lira, showing a daily increase of 1.95 percent. Although it will be determined in the coming days where it will head after the recent interest rate hike decision by the CBRT, experts believe that a new record could be set soon.
Bitcoin, which reached an all-time high of 852,499 liras on December 20, 2021, came close to the record level by reaching 837,297 on June 30. However, the depreciation against the US dollar has caused a retreat in Bitcoin against the Turkish lira, delaying the expectation of a renewed record, at least for a while.
