The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye held its one-week repo rate at 37.00% at its March 2026 Monetary Policy Committee meeting, keeping policy unchanged amid geopolitical uncertainty stemming from the US-Israeli war with Iran. The decision was in line with market expectations: economists polled by Reuters ahead of the meeting had expected the bank to pause its rate cuts.
The pause marks a departure from the rate-cutting path that the CBRT had been navigating prior to the outbreak of the US-Israeli war with Iran. The bank's statement said geopolitical developments had heightened uncertainty, weakened global risk appetite and pushed up energy prices, and that the policy stance would be tightened in case of a significant and persistent deterioration in the inflation outlook.
FUNDING AND CORRIDOR RATES On 1 March, after the war broke out, the CBRT suspended its one-week repo auctions, so banks were funded at the 40% overnight lending rate at the top of its corridor; on 12 March it also left the overnight lending and borrowing rates at 40% and 35.5%.
The suspension of one-week repo auctions has in practice raised banks' funding cost to 40%.
ENERGY RISK AND THE INFLATION OUTLOOK
The CBRT said energy prices had already increased. Türkiye imports most of its oil and gas requirements.
The March decision leaves the repo rate at 37.00% (with banks in practice funded at the 40% overnight lending rate while repo auctions remain suspended).
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