Inflation in Turkey keeps rising. In May, the cost of living increased by 73.5 percent compared to the same month last year, as the national statistics office announced on Friday in Ankara. In the previous month, the rate was almost 70 percent. Analysts had expected an average of 76.5 percent for May. In a monthly comparison, consumer prices increased by almost three percent.
Producer prices are rising much faster than consumer prices. For the year as a whole, the prices that producers receive for their goods rose by around 132 percent in May. Compared to the previous month, this is an increase of 8.8 percent. The producer prices usually flow with a time lag and are partly included in the consumer prices.
The high inflation in Turkey has several causes. One of them is the weak national currency, the lira, which makes imported goods and services more expensive and thus fuels inflation. In addition, there are strong tensions in world trade, which are caused by the corona pandemic, the Ukraine war and China’s strict corona policy.
According to many economists, the Turkish central bank is not fighting the high inflation with enough determination. In fact, the monetary watchdogs have eased their monetary policy since last summer. Experts suspect political pressure. (dpa)