istanbul feb 14 reuters  turkeys central bank is expected to keep its oneweek repo rate unchanged at 14 on thursday a reuters poll showed following an easing cycle that sparked a currency crisis late last year and sent inflation soaring to near 50 all 20 economists in the reuters poll predicted the bank would leave its benchmark rate trinteci unchanged under pressure from president tayyip erdogan who seeks higher economic growth by boosting production exports and credit the central bank has slashed its policy rate by 500 basis points since september it held rates steady in its policysetting meeting last month with real yields in deeply negative territory the unorthodox rate cuts triggered a slide in the lira which lost 44 of its value to the dollar last year this prompted price hikes on a range of goods in the importreliant economy the central bank which has doubling its end2022 inflation forecast to 232 said price stability will be achieved by increasing the liras share in the financial system it also said policy tools will be used to prioritise the local currency read more economists predict inflation will peak around 55 in may due to energy price hikes and salary increases finance minister nureddin nebati said he expected inflation to peak below 50 in april based on nine predictions the polls median forecast for the yearend policy rate was 1400 with estimates ranging from 9 to 14 goldman sachs expected the policy rate to remain on hold as policymakers emphasized that rates will not rise and lowering rates risks destabilizing the lira we continue to think that the current macroeconomic policy mix is unsustainableauthorities will keep the policy rate on hold and prefer to use a wide range of measures to encourage dedollarization support reserves goldman sachs said in a note given the policy responses so far we think the authorities are likely to increasingly rely on alternative measures should the pressure on the lira build up the central bank will announce its rate decision at 1100 gmt on feb 17