Mubasher: Turkey’s central bank kept its key policy rate at its current level on Thursday, in line with market expectations, after hinting the possibility of monetary tightening in a bid to rein in inflation.

The one-week repo rate was left at 24%, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) said following a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Analysts polled by Reuters expected the central bank’s decision.

The CBRT raised 11.25% over the last year, with the latest hike delivered in September in an attempt to shore up the plunging Turkish lira (TRY).

The Turkish currency lost 30% of its value against the US dollar last year as investors were spooked over a diplomatic row with the US.

Concerns also mounted over the central bank’s independence, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushed to lower interest rates to ramp up economic growth.

So far this year, the lira plunged another 10% as tensions between Washington and Ankara re-emerged, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) challenged local election results in Istanbul, and decline in foreign reserves, all of which could leave the central bank with little choice to cushion another crisis.

By 12:22 pm GMT, the USD/TRY pair jumped 1.40% to TRY 5.9555.