CBRT regulated the reference rate for credit card interest rates

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey amended the reference rate for fees charged to commercial customers and the maximum contractual and overdue interest rates for credit cards.

The amendment entered into force with two separate communiqués published in the Official Gazette.

The reference rate, which was previously announced on the penultimate fifth working day of each month, will henceforth be calculated by taking into account the most recent data on the date of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting if the Monetary Policy Committee meeting is held after this day.

With the amendment, the following article was added to the communiqué regarding the reference rate:

The reference rate shall be announced by the Central Bank on the fifth business day after the last day of each month. However, if a Monetary Policy Committee Meeting is held in the same month after the fifth last working day of the relevant month, the reference rate shall be calculated and announced based on the most recent data on the date of the meeting.

The reference rate calculated as of the announcement date shall be updated if it changes by more than five percent upward or downward from the last announced rate."

The rate to be applied for July has increased
Accordingly, the CBRT decided that the reference rate, which determines the upper limit of some loan interest rates, will be applied as 1.36 percent instead of 0.81 percent in July.

The maximum monthly contractual interest rate to be applied to credit card transactions in Turkish lira is determined by adding 55 basis points to the reference rate. In this case, according to the July reference rate, the maximum contractual interest rate to be applied to credit card transactions will be 1.91 percent in July.

With the Communiqué, "The reference rate is applied as 1.36 percent from 1 July 2023 until 31 July 2023. This rate shall also be taken as the reference rate for the Communiqué on Maximum Interest Rates Applicable to Credit Card Transactions and the Communiqué on Securities Registration between the same dates."