ANKARA: The Turkish central bank on Wednesday cut its 2019 inflation forecast to over 14 percent while vowing to keep a tight monetary stance until current fast rising prices fall back.
Consumer price inflation spiked to a 15-year high in October 2018 of over 25 percent before falling to 20.3 percent in December, hitting consumers hard as the Turkish lira also weakened.
The central bank said in its latest report that inflation was “likely to be 14.6 percent” at the end of 2019, down from the 15.2 percent estimate given in October.
After the announcement in Ankara during a presentation by Governor Murat Cetinkaya, the lira hit 5.28 against the US dollar after 0830 GMT, a gain of 0.5 percent on the day.
The lira lost 28 percent of its value against the dollar in 2018.
The inflation forecast for 2020 also was cut to 8.2 percent from 9.3 percent and the central bank said it hopes price rises will stabilize at “around five percent the medium term.”
The bank, which has a nominal inflation target of five percent, kept the food inflation estimate for 2019 at 13 percent.
The downward revisions come after oil price falls, improved inflation figures and the strengthening of the lira since the middle of last year.
The bank’s monetary policy committee earlier this month kept its policy interest rate, the one-week repo rate, unchanged for a third time at 24 percent.
After a currency crisis in August caused by a US-Turkey diplomatic row and concerns over domestic monetary policy, the bank hiked the rate sharply by 625 basis points to 24 percent.
Cetinkaya struck a defiant tone on Wednesday when he said that “until there is a convincing fall in inflation, we will continue our tight monetary stance.”
He added that if necessary, there could even be further tightening.
There have been concerns among investors over the bank’s independence and ability to maintain such a stance as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opposes high interest rates.
Erdogan has previously referred to interest rates as “the mother and father of all evil,” going against economic orthodoxy to argue that high rates cause high inflation, not the other way round.
Turkey central bank cuts 2019 inflation forecast
Turkey central bank cuts 2019 inflation forecast
- Consumer price inflation spiked to a 15-year high in October 2018 of over 25 percent before falling to 20.3 percent in December
- The bank kept the food inflation estimate for 2019 at 13 percent
UAE thwarts terrorist cyberattacks targeting vital sectors
DUBAI: The UAE successfully prevented terrorist cyberattacks that targeted the country’s digital infrastructure and vital sectors, in an attempt to destabilize the nation and disrupt essential services, state news agency WAM reported.
The UAE Cybersecurity Council said the attacks included attempts to infiltrate networks, deploy ransomware, and conduct systematic phishing campaigns targeting national platforms.
It also involved the exploitation of artificial intelligence technologies to develop sophisticated offensive tools, reflecting a qualitative shift in the methods employed by terrorist groups and their ability to harness modern technologies to carry out digital attacks, WAM reported.
The Council reiterated the country’s national cybersecurity defense system makes sure that the safety of individuals, the protection of personal data and the continuity of critical services remain top priorities.
It further urged the public to report any cyber threats or suspicious attempts to ensure digital security in the country.
