ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkiye’s annual inflation rate slowed for the seventh consecutive month in December, official figures showed yesterday.
Consumer prices rose by 44.3 per cent last month, down from 47.1 in November, the Turkish statistics agency said.
The figure was largely in line with the central bank’s estimation after a year in which price increases slowed less than expected despite higher interest rates.
Last week, Turkiye’s central bank lowered its key interest rate for the first time in nearly two years, dropping it to 47.5 per cent from 50 per cent.
The last cut was in February 2023.
The central bank had said it was expecting inflation to reach 44 per cent by the end of 2024, up from a previous estimate of 38 per cent it had given in August.
The official figures are disputed by the ENAG group of independent economists which publishes its own numbers every month and said year-on-year inflation stood at 83.4 in December.
Turkiye has experienced double digit inflation since 2019, with the annual rate peaking at 85.5 per cent in October 2022, making life increasingly difficult for millions of families.
The government has also pushed through a moderate increase to Turkiye’s minimum wage, raising it by 30 per cent to TRY22,104 (USD600) from January 1.
The figure was far below that demanded by the workers’ union, which had pushed for a 70-per-cent increase.
