Turkey’s annual inflation rate held steady near 61 percent last month, official data showed on Friday, highlighting government efforts to ease a historic cost of living crisis, Agence France-Presse reported.
The rate inched down to 61.36 percent in October from 61.53 percent in September, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said.
The pace of month-on-month increases also slowed to 3.43 percent from 4.75 percent.
A separate study released by independent economists from the Inflation Research Group (ENAG) who question the official data put the October figure at 126,18 percent, up from 130.13 percent in September.
Central bank chief Hafize Gaye Erkan said Thursday that the rate will likely peak between 70 and 75 percent next May.
She expects inflation to reach 65 percent by the end of the year and drop to 36 percent by the end of 2024.
Turkey is suffering the worst bout of inflation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s two-decade rule. The official annual inflation rate peaked at 85 percent in October last year and climbed back up above 60 percent in September.
After winning a May election, Erdoğan appointed a new team of market-friendly economists that was given the freedom to sharply hike its policy setting rate.