Turkey keeps interest rates for the third month at 14%.

Ankara, March 17 Turkey's central bank decided this Thursday to keep interest rates at 14% for the third year in a row when inflation reached 54% in February, a figure that hasn't been seen in 20 years. The issuing bank last shifted the cash price when it cut interest rates by 100 basis points in December, and fell for the fourth year in a row at that time. Inflation is linked to the massive devaluation of the Turkish lira, which lost 45% of its value in 2021 due to high interest rate policies maintained by the Turkish central bank and promoted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan, who claims that inflation is rising due to high interest rates, has changed central bank governor four times since July 2019. According to some economists, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has a negative impact on the economy, which could further increase inflation in Turkey. Turkey, for example, is an important tourist destination for Russia and Ukraine. Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati believed yesterday that inflation would fall if international tensions eased. According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, “we will see a decline (inflation) and a rapid normalization of the whole, especially from the end of the year.”