AFP, Istanbul :
Turkey’s annual inflation rate slowed for a 10th straight month in March, falling to 38.1 percent, the lowest since December 2021, official data showed Thursday.
The decline came as Turkey was roiled by street protests against the arrestand jailing of Istanbul’s popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on graft charges, which sent the Turkish lira to record lows against the dollar.
Turkey has experienced double-digit inflation since 2019, making life increasingly more expensive for millions of people.
On the month, consumer prices rose by 2.46 percent in March from February, according to the country’s statistics institute.
The year-on-year price surge particularly affected education (80.4 percent), housing (68.6 percent), hotels and restaurants (43.4 percent), and healthcare (42 percent), according to the official data.
Turkey’s annual inflation had exceeded 75 percent in May 2024, before slowing since June.
The decline has led the Turkish central bank to lower its benchmark interest rate from 50 percent to 42.5 percent since December.
Official inflation figures are disputed by independent economists from the Inflation Research Group (ENAG), who estimate that consumer prices rose 75.2 percent in March.
Economists have warned that the decline in the lira after Imamoglu’s arrest could jeopardise the government’s goal of cutting inflation to 24 percent by the end of this year, in particular by making imports more expensive.
The Turkish lira has been trading for two weeks at around 38 to the dollar, a historically low level.
