Türkiye Cenbank Holds Rates at 50% Citing Last Big Hike

A logo of Türkiye's Central Bank is pictured at the entrance of its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
A logo of Türkiye's Central Bank is pictured at the entrance of its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
TT

Türkiye Cenbank Holds Rates at 50% Citing Last Big Hike

A logo of Türkiye's Central Bank is pictured at the entrance of its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo
A logo of Türkiye's Central Bank is pictured at the entrance of its headquarters in Ankara, Turkey October 15, 2021. REUTERS/Cagla Gurdogan/File Photo

Türkiye's central bank kept its main interest rate steady at 50% on Thursday as expected, citing a big tightening in financial conditions since its last hike, and again pledged to tighten policy more if needed in its campaign to cool inflation.

Analysts said the central bank has likely ended its aggressive, nearly year-long tightening cycle.
Last month, it unexpectedly raised its one-week repo rate by 500 basis points, citing a deteriorating inflation outlook and pledging to keep a tight monetary stance.

The annual inflation rate climbed to 68.5% in March and is expected to rise for another few months before easing. The central bank has forecast it will dip to 36% by year-end, a bit lower than market expectations.

"The monetary policy decisions in March have led to a significant tightening in financial conditions," Reuters quoted the bank's policy committee as saying.

"Considering the lagged effects of the monetary tightening, the Committee decided to keep the policy rate unchanged, but reiterated that it remains highly attentive to inflation risks."

It also reiterated it would tighten again if a "significant and persistent" deterioration in inflation is foreseen, and would maintain a tight stance until a "significant and sustained" drop in underlying trend inflation is seen.

The lira was unchanged at 32.5170 against the dollar after the announcement.

Rate hikes are "on hold once again, with no changes to the rate likely until the fourth quarter 2024", Andrew Birch, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a note.

Reuters polling shows the bank was expected to hold rates this week and to leave it at 50% until the fourth quarter when cuts are to begin. Only two of 14 respondents expected a hike.

POLICY U-TURN
A years-long cost-of-living crisis for Turks is expected to begin easing in the second half of the year due to the monetary tightening cycle, which began in June last year with a U-turn toward a more orthodox economic program.
Rates have risen from 8.5% in the cycle, which reversed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's previous policy of low rates and credit-fueled growth that sparked a series of currency crashes and sent inflation soaring in recent years.

Last month's rate hike came just ahead of nationwide local elections in which Erdogan's ruling AK Party suffered big losses, with voters primarily attributing their discontent to cost-of-living concerns.
The central bank had held rates steady in February.

Separately, the bank said on Thursday it raised interest rates on required reserves involving lira and FX-protected lira deposits, in order to support a transition to lira deposits.



Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi Drop Talks on Business Integration

This combination of pictures created on February 13, 2025 shows the logo of Honda Motor (L) taken on February 6, 2025 at the company's showroom in Tokyo and the logo of Nissan Motor (R) being displayed at the company's showroom in Tokyo on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
This combination of pictures created on February 13, 2025 shows the logo of Honda Motor (L) taken on February 6, 2025 at the company's showroom in Tokyo and the logo of Nissan Motor (R) being displayed at the company's showroom in Tokyo on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
TT

Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi Drop Talks on Business Integration

This combination of pictures created on February 13, 2025 shows the logo of Honda Motor (L) taken on February 6, 2025 at the company's showroom in Tokyo and the logo of Nissan Motor (R) being displayed at the company's showroom in Tokyo on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)
This combination of pictures created on February 13, 2025 shows the logo of Honda Motor (L) taken on February 6, 2025 at the company's showroom in Tokyo and the logo of Nissan Motor (R) being displayed at the company's showroom in Tokyo on February 13, 2025. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Japanese automakers Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi said Thursday they are ending talks on business integration.
Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said the talks had changed focus from setting up a joint holding company to making Nissan into a subsidiary of Honda, The Associated Press reported.
“The intent was to join forces to win in the global competition, but this was not going to realize Nissan's potential, so I could not accept it,” he told reporters. He said that Nissan was going to aim for a turnaround without Honda instead.
Honda Chief Executive Toshihiro Mibe said in a separate news conference that Honda had suggested a stock swap to speed up decision-making.
“I am really disappointed,” Mibe told reporters. “I felt the potential was great, but I also knew actions that would bring pain were necessary to realize that."
The automakers agreed to end their agreement regarding the consideration of the structure for a collaboration, a joint statement said.
Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Corp. announced in December that they were going to hold talks to set up a joint holding company. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. had said it was considering joining that group.
From the start, the effort had analysts puzzled as to the advantages to any of the companies, as their model lineups and strengths overlap in an industry shaken by the arrival of powerful newcomers like Tesla and BYD, as well as the move to electrification.
Honda and Nissan initially said they were trying to finalize an agreement by June and set up the holding company by August.
The three automakers will continue to work together on electric vehicles and smart cars, such as autonomous driving, they said Thursday.
In recent weeks, Japanese media had various reports about the talks breaking down, citing unidentified sources. Some said Nissan balked at becoming a minor player in the partnership with Honda.
Mibe denied he knew or heard anything about the media speculation that Taiwan's Foxconn was considering taking a stake in Nissan.
Honda is in far better financial shape and was to take the lead in the joint executive team. Honda reported Thursday that its April-December 2024 profits declined 7% to 805 billion yen ($5 billion).
Nissan reported a loss for the July-September quarter as its vehicle sales sank, prompting it to slash 9,000 jobs. At that time, Uchida took a 50% pay cut to take responsibility for the results.