Turkey CPI +39.6% on Year in May vs. +43.7% in April
June 5, 2023 at 3:21 a.m. ET
*Turkey CPI +xx.x% on Year in May vs. +43.7% in April
2.4
Inflation in Turkey fell for the seventh month in a row in May, as newly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled the country could return to more conventional economic policies to curb high inflation.
Consumer…
*Turkey CPI +xx.x% on Year in May vs. +43.7% in April
2.4
By Ed Frankl
Inflation in Turkey fell for the seventh month in a row in May, as newly re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled the country could return to more conventional economic policies to curb high inflation.
Consumer prices increased 39.6% in May compared with the same month a year earlier, easing from a 43.7% increase in April, data from the country’s statistics office Turkstat showed Monday. It is the lowest rate since December 2021.
The fall in the level of inflation was driven by slowing housing prices, which rose 20.7% on year in May, compared with 43.2% in April. Transportation prices eased too, rising 23.7% on year, from 25.6% in the prior month.
Inflation in food and nonalcoholic drinks continued to be high, standing at 52.5% on year in May, down only a little from 53.9% in April.
Erdogan over the weekend said he was reinstating as finance minister Mehmet Simsek, who is linked with more conventional economic policies than those Erdogan’s government has recently taken. They included pressuring the central bank to cut interest rates despite high inflation and pushing the country’s reserves into the red, putting Turkey on a path to financial instability.
Turkey’s central bank kept its policy rate at 8.5% at its latest meeting in May.
Write to Ed Frankl at [email protected]
