ANKARA – Turkey’s annual inflation rate slowed sharply in July to 61.78%, official data showed yesterday, as the country battles a cost-of-living crisis.

It is the second consecutive fall after consumer price rises eased to 71.6% in June.

“Annual inflation is falling. We continue to get positive results in all areas of our programme, whose main objective is disinflation. The decrease in inflation will be felt more in the coming period,” Finance minister Mehmet Simsek said on the social media platform X.

The central bank began to raise interest rates in efforts to battle inflation last year
after president Recep Tayyip Erdogan
dropped his opposition to orthodox monetary policy. The bank kept borrowing costs unchanged at 50% for a fourth consecutive month in July.

Inflation traditionally eases during summer in Turkey, as energy consumption falls and tourism brings in foreign currencies

While the annual inflation rate eased in July, it rose by 3.23%, compared to June. It had increased by 1.64% on a monthly basis in June.

Education, housing, health, and hotels and restaurants saw the biggest price increases. 

–Nampa/ AFP