The last year saw aggressive rate cutting by banks around the world including Turkey. But that trend seems to have now stopped with interest rates on hold for the fourth consecutive month.

Interest rates in Turkey were slashed during 2009 as the worldwide recession hit economic activity.

But the trend of cutting rates has been halted with the Central Bank keping rates on hold at 6.50% for the forth consecutive month.

The Turkish Central bank met again last Thursday to review the interest rates.

The Monetary Policy Committee who set the rates based on a wide range of economic data have, despite some signs of economic activity and a recent spike in the inflation rates, decided to hold rates at 6.50% for another month.

The Committee has emphasized that it would be necessary to keep policy rates at low levels for a long period of time unless new data suggests otherwise.