Price growth in inflation-plagued Turkey gained pace in March, rising to 68.5 percent year-on-year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said on Wednesday.
The increase followed a Sunday municipal election defeat for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s party that many blamed on the out-of-control cost of living.
Last month the cost of education, health, transport and food showed the biggest increases, after inflation reached 67.07 percent in February, TurkStat said.
But ENAG, a group of independent economists, said their own calculations put the year-on-year figure at almost 125 percent.
Pointing to slowing month-on-month inflation in the official data, at 3.16 percent compared February’s 4.53 percent, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek wrote on X that “monthly inflation decreased in line with our forecast.”
Aylık enflasyon öngörümüz doğrultusunda mart ayında geriledi.
Para politikasındaki ilave sıkılaşma talepteki dengelenmeye önemli katkı sağlarken dış finansman imkanlarının daha da artması makro finansal istikrarı güçlendirecektir.
Deprem hariç harcama kontrolüyle sıkılaşacak…
— Mehmet Simsek (@memetsimsek) April 3, 2024
Following a return to orthodox central bank policy, with the key interest rate having been raised to 50 percent, the government has also vowed to control spending to slow activity and inflation.
“All these developments … will anchor inflation expectations and support the disinflation process,” Şimşek said.
“We will do whatever is necessary until we reach our goal of price stability, which is our top priority,” he added.
© Agence France-Presse