Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on Friday said interest rates should be decreased and that they would drop with an economic recovery expected in April.
“We will see that with a drop in inflation in April, interest rates will be reduced. This rates is good for the business world, but it’s not enough,” Albayrak said in an economy meeting in İzmir, the Diken news website reported.
The central bank hiked interest rates to 24 percent in September in response to a currency crisis due to the lira’s free fall against the US dollar during the summer.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a self-declared enemy of high interest rates. In May, his remarks in London at a meeting with global money managers over keeping interest rates at a minimum effectively damaged lira’s value at the time.
He also signaled that he would tighten his grip on the Turkish economy after a presidential election in June, after which he appointed his son-in-law Albayrak as the economy chief.
“Passing the test ahead of financial attacks, the Turkish economy continues its course to recovery after getting through the August 2018 bump,” Albayrak said in reference to the lira’s valuation at 7.20 against the dollar that month.
As of Friday, the Turkish lira stood at at 5.30 to the US dollar.
“Turkey has never been so attractive [for business]. The Turkish economy is strong, don’t worry,” Albayrak told the businessmen.