Dollar remains above 34 lira

Although USD/TL has remained around the 34 level since the beginning of the week, attention will remain on foreign markets and the data agenda.

USD/TL did not see any significant movement compared to yesterday and was trading at 34.0425 as of 0905. On the free market, the British pound was sold at 45.28 Turkish lira and the euro at 38.13 Turkish lira.

TL closed last week 0.9% lower against the USD and has fallen 2.6% since the start of the month. If TL closes this month at these levels, it would record its biggest drop since March.

These developments will be monitored

On the domestic data agenda, the focus is on the final value of foreign trade data for July released by TURKSTAT at 10:00 today. Preliminary data showed that the foreign trade deficit fell 42% to US$7.2 billion in July.

There will also be a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee today to assess the preparation of the Medium Term Plan (MTP). A written statement is planned after the meeting which will begin at 11:00.

Tomorrow’s data agenda includes the Economic Confidence Index for August and the weekly CBRT data.

A firm stance from the central government

In the forward-looking information given in the MPC meeting minutes released by the CBRT yesterday, it is expected that the inflation rate will decline in August due to the impact of food prices, but the main trend will not change. The meeting also pointed out that inflation in the service sector remains strong.

Future assessments will be closely watched to see if there is any change in the CBRT’s tight monetary policy stance. Although economists believe that the 50% policy rate will start to be reduced in the last quarter of this year, the CBRT has indicated that it will maintain a tight monetary policy stance until a permanent decline in the main trend of inflation is achieved.