ANKARA, June 27 -- The Turkish central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 50 percent for the third consecutive month at its policy meeting on Thursday, in line with analysts' expectations.

The bank's monetary policy committee said in a statement that recent indicators had shown that domestic demand continued to slow down, although it was still experiencing inflationary pressures.

The committee acknowledged persistent inflationary concerns, including ongoing service sector price hikes, geopolitical risks, and food price fluctuations, reiterating its pledge to maintain its tight monetary policy stance until a "significant and sustained decline" in underlying monthly inflation is observed, alongside a convergence of inflation expectations.

It also left the door open for further tightening "in the event of a significant and persistent deterioration in inflation."

Annual inflation surged to 75.45 percent in May, the highest since November 2022. The last rate hike was made by the Turkish central bank in March, when it raised the policy rate by 500 basis points to 50 percent.

  - Xinhua