The Central Bank of Turkey increased its benchmark interest rate on Thursday to 24 percent, a hike of 625 basis points from the previous rate of 17.75 percent. The Turkish lira jumped more than 5 percent on the news, firming to around 6.1 against the dollar, CNBC reports.
The move, which exceeded market expectations of an increase of between 300 and 400 basis points, boosted the lira and saw Turkish sovereign dollar bonds gain across the curve to their highest level since the end of August. The lira touched as high as 6.0030 against the dollar immediately following the announcement.
The rate hike came alongside a pledge by the bank to enact strong monetary tightening in order to support price stability amid recent economic turbulence.
"If needed, further monetary tightening will be delivered," the bank said in a statement.
