Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak on Thursday claimed that Turkey’s inflation would drop to single digits in three months’ time and that interest rates would subsequently be decreased, the Diken news website reported.
According to the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat), inflation eased to 18.71 percent in May, falling from over 25 percent in November.
Albayrak repeatedly said the country was on the path to recovery after last summer’s currency crisis ignited by strained relations with the US over the prosecution of an American pastor.
The Turkish lira plunged to 7.28 against the US dollar in mid-August.
To stop the subsequent losses in value, the central bank raised interest rates to 25 percent, making Turkey the country offering the second highest interest rates in the world.
“Inflation and interest rates — only these are left. We managed to decrease inflation from 25 percent to 18 percent. In three months, it will be in single digits,” Albayrak said during a visit to the ruling party’s Trabzon provincial branch.
He added that after the drop in inflation, interest rates would be cut, providing a more stable economy in which companies could attract more foreign investment and would be able to make more investments.
Western global money managers have several times expressed concerns over government interference in central bank policies.