Turkish central bank cuts rates again despite high inflation

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank has delivered another large interest rate cut despite inflation running at more than 85%. The bank announced Thursday that it was lowering the rate by 1.5 percentage points to 9%. That’s in line with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unorthodox economic views. He says high borrowing costs cause high inflation, even though traditional economic thinking says raising interest rates help tame inflation. The bank had similarly cut borrowing costs by 1.5 points last month and by 1 point each in August and September. The bank said that the easing cycle would now come to a halt. Erdogan is counting on lower borrowing costs to propel the economy as Turkey gears up for elections in June.