JPMorgan predicted that the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) will raise the policy rate by another 500 basis points to 50 percent in April after inflation exceeded expectations in February. JPMorgan previously predicted that the CBRT would end the interest rate hike cycle with the rate hike, which raised the policy rate to 45 percent. The consumer price index (CPI) increased by 67.07 percent annually in February, exceeding the expectation of 66 percent. CPI increased by 4.53 percent on a monthly basis in February. The expectation for monthly inflation was 3.8 percent. "Headline inflation was 4.5 percent on a monthly basis in February, well above our expectation of 4.2 percent and market expectations of 3.8 percent," JPMorgan said in a research note.
