Turkey cuts interest rate for second month

ISTANBUL, Sept 22 (AFP): Turkey's central bank on Thursday cut its policy rate for the second straight month despite an annual inflation rate that has reached 80 per cent and still moving higher.

The central bank said it was cutting its one-week repo rate to 12 per cent from 13 per cent and attributed skyrocketing consumer prices on external factors such as the global jump in the cost of energy and food caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The decision highlights Turkish policymakers' strong focus on economic growth nine months before a genaral election that polls show President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on track to lose.

Official data shows Turkey's industrial production and retail sales both starting to slow.

Erdogan has openly championed economic growth at all cost.

He also rejects conventional economics and believes that inflation can be brought under control by cutting interest rates.

"I am an economist. Inflation is not an economic danger that cannot be overcome," Erdogan told US television this week.