The hotly anticipated Monetary Policy Committee (PPK) was held yesterday which was the first test of the new management. The Central Bank left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 19% as expected. However, there are some changes in the PPK meeting text compared to the previous evaluations. Accordingly, the phrase regarding the policy interest to be set above the inflation remained in the text, while the expression about sustaining the tight stance if needed was removed from the text. In this context, economists think that the Central Bank can cut the interest rate based on the course of inflation and interest increase won’t be on the carpet anymore. That’s why the inflation figures for April have importance in this respect prior to the next PPK meeting to be held on May 6.
Considering the impact of Central Bank’s interest decision on the money market next day, foreign exchange (FX) rates are rising and weakening the value of TRY. Accordingly, USD/TRY increased by 0.59% to 8.06, while EUR/TRY rose by 0.65% to 9.67, compared to yesterday. On the other hand, gold prices reached USD 1,780, while brent crude saw USD 67.15.
DAILY AGENDA
The short-term external debt stock of the country increased by 2% to USD 141.2bn in February, compared to the end of 2020, according to the Central Bank.
The number of newly established companies rose by 31.5%, while the number of liquidated companies increased by 27.5% in March, compared to the same month of the previous year, according to the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).
