Consumer prices rose further in March and annual inflation climbs to 68.5 despite the Turkish Central Bank’s (CBRT) continued rate hikes.
According to the data released by Turkish Statistical Institute, monthly rise in consumer prices came out at 3.16. Education, communication, hotels, restaurants and cafes led the increase.
On an annual basis, education again saw the highest cost inflation at 104% year-on-year, followed by hotels, restaurants and cafes at 95% and health at 80%. Monthly increase was 13%, 5.6% and 3.9% respectively.
Turning to orthodox policies, CBRT has been raising rates since June 2023 and most recently raised the key rate from 45% to 50% in late March.
While the March inflation count represents “the smallest monthly increase in three months and suggests that the impact of the large minimum wage hike in January may now have largely passed, it is still far from consistent with the single-digit inflation that policymakers are trying to achieve,” Nicholas Farr, an Emerging Europe economist at London-based Capital Economics, wrote in an analyst note Wednesday.
“The latest inflation figures do little to change our view that further monetary tightening lies in store and that a more concerted effort to tighten fiscal policy will be needed too,” he said.
