Turkey hikes interest rates to 40% to battle sky-high inflation

• Turkey's central bank raised interest rates by five percentage points on Thursday.
• It was the sixth consecutive rate hike and took the rate to 40%.
• Inflation hit 61.3% in October, almost unchanged from 61.5% in September.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey's central bank delivered another huge interest rate hike on Thursday as it tries to curb double-digit inflation that has left households struggling to afford food and other basic goods.

The bank pushed its policy rate up by 5 percentage points, to 40%, marking its sixth big interest rate hike in a row focused on beating down inflation that hit an eye-watering 61.3% last month.