Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.22
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The Central Bank of Turkey has kept the discount rate at 7.5 percent that was set in 2014, TRT Haber TV channel reported citing the statement from the bank.
Turkey's Central Bank carried out intervention worth $2 billion throughout 2014 in order to keep the exchange rate of Turkish lira at a stable level, however this attempt was unsuccessful.
The process of strengthening the lira (by 9.4 percent) in 2014 continued until September of that year. The exchange rate of the national currency started cheapening in the subsequent months. [The dollar exchange rate in Turkey increased by 7.4 percent by late 2014].
Turkey's central bank on Jan. 20 lowered its key interest rate (the weekly repo rate) by 0.5 percentage points to 7.75 percent, while the other two rates, that is, one on deposits and the other one on overnight loans were left at 7.5 and 11.25 percent respectively.
The national currency of Turkey renewed its historical minimum, reaching 2.6862 liras per $1 on March 6, 2015.
The official exchange rate on Apr.22 is 2.7040 TRY/USD, according to Turkish Central Bank.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu