India, April 17 -- The Turkish central bank raised its key interest rate in a surprise move on Thursday, reversing the sharp easing cycle that began last December, and also expressed preparedness to keep the policy tight.
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, headed by Yasar Fatih Karahan, decided to raise the policy rate to 46.0 percent from 42.5 percent.
The bank had reduced the rate by 250 basis points each in December, January and March.
The MPC also increased the overnight lending rate by 300 bps to 49 percent, after raising it by 200 bps in an emergency meeting last month as the arrest of opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu triggered a major sell-off in the stock market and currency. Today, the o...