Turkey’s central bank to support price stability

By Muhammed Ali Gurtas

ANKARA

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) on Monday announced that the bank will continue to use all available instruments in pursuit of the price stability objective.

"The Central Bank will take the necessary actions to support price stability," the bank said.

The announcement came following the release of the inflation report for August by the country's statistical authority TurkStat.

According to TurkStat, consumer prices in Turkey rose 17.90 percent on a yearly basis last month while the annual inflation was 15.85 percent in July.

"Recent developments regarding the inflation outlook indicate significant risks to price stability," the CBRT said, adding:

"Accordingly, in line with the previous communication, monetary stance will be adjusted at the September Monetary Policy Committee Meeting in view of the latest developments."

At the bank's sixth Monetary Policy Committee meeting this year, on July 24, the CBRT kept its one-week repo rate -- also known as the bank's policy rate -- constant at 17.75 percent.

According to the bank's schedule, the next three meetings are to be held on Sept. 13, Oct. 25, and Dec. 13.

Turkey's annual inflation at 17.90 pct in August