Türkiye Cumhuriyet Merkez Bankası AS Governor Murat Uysal continued to signal further interest rate cuts as the central bank lowered its inflation forecast for 2019.
In a new inflation report, the Turkish central bank projected inflation to reach 13.9% at the end of 2019, down from a forecast of 14.6% in April.
The inflation forecasts for year-end 2020 and 2021 were unchanged at 8.2% and 5.4%, respectively. The central bank's inflation target is 5%.
"In the upcoming period we have a considerable room for maneuver on rates. Its application, timing and size will depend on the improvements on price and financial stability," Uysal was quoted as saying in a Reuters report. He also stressed that the central bank was adopting a "cautious stance," according to Bloomberg News.
Uysal made a similar statement in July, a week before the central bank delivered the biggest cut in its one-week repo auction rate since 2002.
In addition to a revised inflation forecast, the central bank's economic outlook for Turkey in the second half of 2019 and in 2020 was becoming more optimistic, Uysal said, according to the Financial Times.
Uysal took over the central bank in early July as his successor was dismissed amid persistent calls for interest rate cuts from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
