Turkiye’s inflation exceeds 83% in September

Turkish annual inflation climbed to a new 24-year high of 83.45% in September, below forecast according to official data on Monday, after the central bank surprised markets by cutting rates twice in the last two months.

Report informs, citing Reuters, that inflation has surged since autumn last year, when the lira slumped after the central bank gradually cut its policy rate in an unorthodox easing cycle long sought by President Tayyip Erdogan.

Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 3.08%, the Turkish Statistical Institute said, compared to a Reuters poll forecast of 3.8%. Annually, consumer price inflation was forecast to be 84.63%.

It was the highest annual figure since July 1998, when it stood at 85.3% and Turkiye was battling to end a decade of chronically high inflation.

September inflation was driven by transport prices, which surged nearly 118% year-on-year, while food and non-alcoholic drinks prices jumped 93.05%.