High inflation in Turkey continues to decline. In February, consumer prices rose by 55.2 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the national statistical office in Ankara on Friday. That was slightly below the expectations of bank economists, who had expected a rate of 55.5 percent on average. In the previous month, inflation was 57.7 percent, last year it had even risen to around 85 percent. Since then, inflation has tended to decline, but more slowly of late.
The high inflation has several causes. The ongoing weakness of the local currency, the lira, is largely home-made, which experts attribute primarily to the loose monetary policy of the Turkish central bank. The monetary watchdogs have further reduced their key interest rates in recent months despite high inflation, most recently also because of the severe earthquake.
On the other hand, the development of the prices of many raw materials and intermediate goods is considered to be difficult for Turkey to influence. These have increased drastically in the last year in particular. The main reason is Russia’s war against Ukraine, as both countries are important suppliers of raw materials. Recently, however, the situation on the raw materials and food markets has calmed down somewhat.
