(Bloomberg) -- Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said the central bank thinks its monetary policy is tight enough amid a worse-than-expected inflation print that prompted global banks to predict a more restrictive monetary policy.

“We think we have done enough, the central bank thinks,” Simsek said on Tuesday, discussing monetary policy at a public-private partnership conference in Istanbul. “We have to be patient and committed going forward.”

Authorities are planning additional selective credit tightening and quantitative tightening steps, according to the minister, who said Turkey is in “a transition period.” 

The lira edged 0.1% lower on Tuesday and was trading at 31.6005 per US dollar as of 1:07 p.m. in Istanbul. 

The outlook contrasts with some views in the market after a faster inflation pickup than forecast for February. Economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. now forecast a rate hike of as much as 500 basis points in April.

The central bank, which delivered a cumulative 3,650 basis points of rate increases in eight steps, left its benchmark on hold at 45% in February but said policy could be tightened “in case a significant and persistent deterioration in inflation outlook is anticipated.”

Under their latest outlook, policymakers expect inflation to peak above 70% in May and end the year at 36%. 

While ostensibly playing no official role in monetary policy, Simsek anchors a team of technocrats installed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to run the economy.

(Updates lira movement. An earlier version of this story was corrected to say that Simsek was reflecting the central bank’s view on policy.)

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