Turkish inflation accelerates more than expected

ISTANBUL – Turkey's annual inflation has accelerated more than expected in October to remain at its highest level in the last 15 years, driven by rising transport prices, while slower growth is worrying investors.

The consumer price index rose 25.24 percent year on year, up from 24.5 percent in September. Last month, it went from 6.3% to 2.67%, announced Monday the State Statistical Agency of Turkey.

The October readings were expected at 24.37% over one year and 1.97% over a month, according to a Foreks poll.

Last week, the governor of the Turkish Central Bank, Murat Cetinkaya, raised the inflation forecast for 2018 from 23.4% to 23.5%, and raised the bank's inflation forecast to 2019 from 15.3% to 15.2%, citing upward revisions to assumptions about oil and food prices. as well as the depreciation of the currency.

Monday's statistics also showed that the domestic producer price index slowed to 45.01% in October, after 46.15% in September. On a month, the PPI fell to 0.91% after 10.88% in September.

The Turkish lira fell 0.1% against the US dollar to 5.4376 after the data was released.

The Turkish currency has recently recovered as a result of the sharp rise in interest rates of the central bank in September and the improvement of relations between Ankara and Washington following the release of the American pastor Andrew Brunson, detained in Turkey for terrorism.

The US Treasury Department announced Friday the lifting of sanctions against two Turkish ministers.

The easing of tensions with the United States favored a rebound in the Turkish lira. Nevertheless, the lira is still down 30% against the dollar since the beginning of the year, reflecting lingering concerns about an economy that has exploded as a result of a government-backed debt spree. . The Turkish economy grew by 7.4% last year, the fastest pace of any country in the Group of 20.

Under the new economic plan, the government expects the Turkish economy to slow to 3.8 percent this year and to 2.3 percent next year. The International Monetary Fund forecasts that Turkey's growth will reach 3.5% this year, to fall to 0.4% next year.

Write to Yeliz Candemir at [email protected]

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