Turkey's Taksim Square, with the figure of Kemal Ataturk, the first president, and the Turkish flag in the background.
Turkey's central bank on Thursday hiked its key interest rate by 250 basis points to 17.5%, coming in below analyst forecasts of 500 basis points as the country's monetary policymakers embark on a long and painful mission to tackle double-digit inflation.
"Monetary tightening will be further strengthened as much as needed in a timely and gradual manner until a significant improvement in the inflation outlook is achieved," the bank said in a statement, following its interest rate decision.
In its statement Thursday, the central bank reiterated its aim to get inflation down to 5% in the medium term — which many economists see as unrealistic at this rate.
Traditional economic orthodoxy holds that rates must be raised to cool inflation, but Erdogan — a self-declared "enemy" of interest rates who calls the tool "the mother of all evil" — vocally espoused a strategy of lowering rates instead.
Persons:
Turkey's, Kemal Ataturk, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan —, —
Organizations:
Turkish
Locations:
Turkey