ISTANBUL: Turkey’s central bank will decisively keep monetary policy tight until the inflation outlook displays a significant improvement, it said on Thursday, as it raised its policy rate by 125 basis points.
Elevated levels of inflation and inflation expectations continue to pose risks on the pricing behavior, the bank said in a statement, adding it would tighten monetary policy more if needed.
“The Committee decided to further strengthen the monetary tightening to support price stability,” the bank said.
Concerns about President Tayyip Erdogan’s growing influence on monetary policy and doubts over the bank’s ability to rein in double-digit inflation have sent the currency down some 16 percent this year.
To stem the sell-off, the bank hiked rates by 3 percentage points at an emergency meeting last month and said it would return to a single policy rate. Investors have been expecting further tightening, particularly after data on Monday showed annual inflation quickened to 12.15 percent in May.
Turkey’s central bank says to keep policy tight after hiking by 125 basis points
Turkey’s central bank says to keep policy tight after hiking by 125 basis points
Work suspended on Riyadh’s massive Mukaab megaproject: Reuters
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has suspended planned construction of a colossal cube-shaped skyscraper at the center of a downtown development in Riyadh while it reassesses the project's financing and feasibility, four people familiar with the matter said.
The Mukaab was planned as a 400-meter by 400-meter metal cube containing a dome with an AI-powered display, the largest on the planet, that visitors could observe from a more than 300-metre-tall ziggurat — or terraced structure —inside it.
Its future is now unclear, with work beyond soil excavation and pilings suspended, three of the people said. Development of the surrounding real estate is set to continue, five people familiar with the plans said.
The sources include people familiar with the project's development and people privy to internal deliberations at the PIF.
Officials from PIF, the Saudi government and the New Murabba project did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Real estate consultancy Knight Frank estimated the New Murabba district would cost about $50 billion — roughly equivalent to Jordan’s GDP — with projects commissioned so far valued at around $100 million.
Initial plans for the New Murabba district called for completion by 2030. It is now slated to be completed by 2040.
The development was intended to house 104,000 residential units and add 180 billion riyals to the Kingdom’s GDP, creating 334,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, the government had estimated previously.
