TURKEY’S central bank on Wednesday held interest rates steady for the third consecutive month.

This was blamed on the deteriorating inflation outlook and weakening currency trumped government calls for lower interest rates ahead of June parliamentary elections.

The Monetary Policy Committee said in a statement on the Ankara-based central bank’s website that it kept the benchmark one-week repo rate at 7.5% and didn’t change the interest rate corridor, ranging from the overnight borrowing rate of 7.25% to the overnight lending rate of 10.75%.