ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey’s central bank will do "whatever needed" to reach its year-end inflation target of 24% including maintaining a "tight" policy stance, Governor Fatih Karahan told state-run Anadolu Agency in comments published on Thursday.
The central bank will not allow demand conditions to disrupt the disinflation process, Karahan also said in an interview with Anadolu in New York where he was holding a series of separate meetings.
The bank has cut its key rate three times since December by a total of 750 basis points, to 42.5%, as annual inflation has eased to 39%. Analysts generally expect inflation to end the year above the bank’s 24% target.
"We will do whatever needed to reach our year-end inflation target of 24%. We will continue to bring inflation down in line with our year-end targets by maintaining our tight monetary policy stance," Karahan was quoted as saying.
"Our priority in determining the policy rate in coming period will be to ensure the tightness required by the projected disinflation path. We will maintain our tight monetary policy stance until a permanent decrease in inflation and price stability are achieved," he said.
"Our determined stance in monetary policy will support the interest in the Turkish lira."
In mid-2023, the central bank began aggressively tightening policy as part of a U-turn away from years of unorthodox easy-money that had sent the lira tumbling and inflation soaring.