(Bloomberg) -- Turkey’s central bank cut its key interest rate by a full percentage point to single digits and announced a series of measures to boost liquidity amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The benchmark rate was cut to 9.75% from 10.75% at an emergency meeting, the central bank said on Tuesday. The Monetary Policy Committee brought forward its meeting originally scheduled for March 19 to discuss the “potential economic and financial impact” of the coronavirus, the central bank said on its website.
The bank also announced measures that include steps to provide banks with flexibility in their lira and foreign-currency liquidity management, it said in a separate statement.
It will extend as much liquidity as banks need through intraday and overnight standing facilities and may inject funds into the market through repo auctions with maturities of up to 91 days when needed, it said.
Borsa Istanbul Banks Index, a gauge tracking the nation’s listed lenders, reversed earlier losses to gain 1.3% as of 2:15 p.m. in Istanbul.