Turkish inflation eases for 1st time in more than a year

AP , Monday 5 Dec 2022

Annual inflation in Turkey slightly eased in November for the first time in more than a year, according to official figures released on Monday, although it remains close to 24-year highs.

Turkey inflation
File photo shows pedestrians as they walk outside the Kadikoy ferry station in Istanbul, on December 1, 2022. AFP

 

Consumer prices for the year rose by 84.39 percent in November, down from 85.51 percent recorded in October, the Turkish Statistical Institute announced. The monthly inflation rate was 2.88 percent in November, compared with 3.51 percent in the previous month.

It is the first time that annual inflation has eased since May 2021.

While the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine have stoked inflation around the world, economists believe that inflation in Turkey was fueled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's belief that high borrowing costs lead to higher prices. Traditional economic thinking says that raising rates helps rein in inflation.

Turkey's central bank has slashed interest rates by 5 percentage points since August, down to 9 percent despite high inflation that has deepened a cost-of-living crisis in the country. In contrast, central banks around the world have been raising rates to fight soaring inflation.

Erdogan has said his model, which prioritizes growth, investments, employment and exports, is expected to yield results in the new year.

The sharpest increases in annual prices were in the transportation sector, at 107 percent, followed by food and non-alcoholic drinks prices at 102.55 percent, according to official data.

Some experts have questioned the state institutes' figures and the Inflation Research Group, which is made up of independent economists, said on Monday that Turkey's true inflation rate for November is 170.7 percent.

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