ISTANBUL: The Turkish lira was slightly weaker and bond yields inched down on Tuesday as a surprise fall in August industrial output and a cut in official growth forecasts suggested the central bank will keep monetary policy loose for longer.
Turkish industrial production fell 1.5 percent year-on-year in August, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute showed on Tuesday, confounding a Reuters poll forecast for a 2.5 percent rise.
Turkey's government meanwhile cut its growth forecast for 2012 on Tuesday to 3.2 percent from 4 percent, and its 2013 projection to 4 percent from 5 percent.
By 1451 GMT, the lira had weakened to 1.8180 against the dollar, from 1.8115 late on Monday. Against its euro-dollar basket, the lira eased to 2.0814, from 2.0802.
The central bank cut its overnight lending rate by 150 basis points to 10 percent in September and hinted it could further ease to support a slowing economy.
The yield on Turkey's two-year benchmark bond closed at 7.63 percent, slightly down from Monday's close at 7.68 percent.
Turkey's main share index closed up 0.93 percent 68,062 points, outperforming a 0.01 percent fall in the emerging markets index. Buying in shares accelerated as the index avoided a fall to below 67,500 points, which is an important technical level, analysts said.
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