Turkey’s Central Bank Cuts Rate to 36% as Annual Inflation Holds at 29.73%
Key Facts
Turkey’s Monetary Policy Committee cut its one-week repo rate to 36% from 37% on October 22, 2026, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye said. The decision came as annual inflation reached 29.73% in September, while consumer prices rose 1.84% month on month, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. The central bank said recent economic activity and inflation data point to continued weakness in domestic demand. By contrast, it warned that higher energy prices linked to geopolitical tensions pose an upside risk to the inflation outlook. The combination of a rate cut and persistently high inflation puts upcoming results from Turkish banks in an economic context of slowing demand and price pressures.
In its policy decision statement, the central bank said, "Data on economic activity, together with the limited pass-through of supply shocks to domestic prices, indicate that domestic demand remains weak." The assessment provides the backdrop for the rate cut, while keeping price risks in view: the bank also pointed to the impact of higher energy prices linked to geopolitical tensions. In the latest available reading, the consumer price index rose 29.73% year on year in September and 1.84% month on month. The October reading is scheduled for release on November 3, 2026, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute’s calendar. It will be the next indicator of the price trajectory following the rate cut.
For ICBC Turkey Bank, the latest half-year results included in a filing on Türkiye’s Public Disclosure Platform show consolidated net income of 1.834 billion lira in the first half of 2026, compared with a loss of 717 million lira in the corresponding period of 2025. In the second quarter, the bank posted net income of 910 million lira, versus a loss of 362 million lira in the second quarter of the previous year. These figures provide the available comparison ahead of the nine-month financial report, but do not establish the third-quarter result on its own. The third-quarter net result circulated in an earlier draft cannot be confirmed from the available public filing. The nine-month result therefore remains the awaited disclosure for assessing the bank’s latest performance.
The bank’s loan portfolio stood at 54.082 billion lira on June 30, 2026, up from 40.212 billion lira on December 31, 2025, according to the same filing. Deposits totaled 37.110 billion lira at the end of June, compared with 35.725 billion lira at the end of December. The figures reflect growth in loans and deposits between the two dates, alongside a shift in first-half net income from a loss to a profit compared with the corresponding period. Loan and deposit data describe the balance sheet at two specific dates, while the earnings figures measure results for the periods cited. The nine-month results will therefore add an update to the financial picture presented in the half-year filing.
Türkiye’s Public Disclosure Platform listed the 2026 nine-month financial report within a publication window running from October 1 to November 19, 2026. On monetary policy, the central bank’s calendar schedules publication of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting summary on October 30, followed by the inflation report on November 12. The Turkish Statistical Institute has also set November 3 as the release date for the next consumer price index. These dates are upcoming milestones for tracking inflation and monetary policy decisions as investors await the bank’s nine-month disclosure. The financial report will provide a more recent view of ICBC Turkey Bank’s results after the first-half and second-quarter figures.