Well the new Governor has announced a 0.5% cut in interest rates. Since this is what the majority of market analysts had been predicting the announcement appears to have been greeted with approval and the lira has strengthened from 2.83 to 2.81 against the dollar. Not a huge jump but it will please Governor Murat Cetinkaya.
I have to say I have impressed by the financial reporting of papers like the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal - especially in contrast to the usual standard of the political reporting you get in our mainstream press. When Basci cut interest rates by 0.25% four weeks ago it was reported as a sort of goodwill gesture to the incoming Governor. If Basci, trusted by the markets, could make an economic justification for lowering the rates then the incoming bloke (unless he was simply an Erdogan stooge) had some leeway to make further, and perhaps greater, cuts without upsetting the traders. Yep, bang on! Good stuff! [At least, that's the way it seems now. It might look different in a few days].
