Türkiye’s February 2024 Inflation Nearly Reaches 70%. Turkey’s annual inflation in February 2024 reached its highest level in 15 months with a faster-than-expected rate of increase, almost approaching 70%.
Turkey’s consumer price index (CPI) in February 2024 increased four months in a row to 67.1% on an annual basis, from the previous month which was 64.9%. Meanwhile, the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 66%.
Then, monthly inflation which is closely monitored by the country’s central bank has exceeded estimates, although it decreased to 4.5% this month from 6.7% in January 2024.
However, the figure remains well above its level in the fourth quarter of 2023. Considering these figures, senior currency analyst at InTouch Capital Markets, Piotr Matys assesses Turkey’s inflation as very high.
For your information, policy makers expect annual inflation to peak above 70% in May 2024, leaving interest rates unchanged last year.
Türkiye’s February 2024 Inflation Nearly Reaches 70%. With the country’s central bank also adopting a wait-and-see approach for now, the worsening outlook means official borrowing costs remain well below zero when adjusted for current prices.
Meanwhile, looser fiscal policy ahead of the country’s vote has also become an obstacle to the central bank’s efforts to control inflation. Bloomberg economist Selva Bahar Baziki believes that the central bank will not raise interest rates further for now.
High inflation in the services industry is another concern, reflecting domestic demand that has long subsided despite tighter monetary policy.
QNB Finansbank chief economist Erkin Isik also argued that faster inflation in the industrial sector explained why the overall data came in well above estimates.
