Turkey’s annual inflation rate rose at a lower-than-expected pace in May but still jumped to a 24-year high, official data showed Friday.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 73.5% in the 12 months through May, up from nearly 70% in April, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said, fuelled by war impact, rising energy prices and a Turkish lira decline.
The increase, however, was smaller than in previous months, signaling that price pressure might be slowing.
The latest figure surpassed the 73.2% touched in 2002 and is the highest since October of 1998 when annual inflation was 76.6%.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to a surge in gas, oil and grain prices, has compounded the situation in import-reliant Turkey.
The sharpest increases in annual prices were in the transportation sector, at 107.6%, followed by food and nonalcoholic drinks prices at 91.6%, according to the statistical institute’s data.
Month-over-month, consumer prices rose nearly 3%, TurkStat said, compared to a market forecast of 4.8%. Annually, consumer price inflation was forecast to be 76.55%.
A core index that strips out the impact of volatile items such as food and energy reached 56%.
The domestic producer price index climbed 8.76% month-on-month in May for an annual rise of 132.16%.
dailysabah.com