Turkey's Erdogan reiterates opposition to interest rate hike

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan reiterated on Tuesday his opposition to a hike in interest rates hours ahead of an emergency meeting of the central bank's monetary policy committee.

"If I make a statement, they will say that I have interfered with the central bank," Erdogan told a press conference before departing to Iran for an official visit.

"But I would like you to know that as always, I am against a hike in interest rates. But of course I don't have the authority to interfere with the central bank," he said.

(Reporting by Orhan Coskun, Writing by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Nick Tattersall)