Turkey: Inflation increases in February
Inflation increased to 67.1% in February, above January’s 64.9%. February’s result marked the highest inflation rate since November 2022 and came in above market expectations. Looking at the details of the release, prices for transporation and prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose at a faster rates in February.
Annual average inflation rose to 55.9% in February (January: 54.7%). Meanwhile, core inflation rose to 72.9% in February, from January’s 70.5%.
Finally, consumer prices increased 4.53% over the previous month in February, which was below January’s 6.70% rise.
Our panelists expect inflation to remain around current levels in H1; they do not pencil a significant slowdown until the second half of the year.
Muhammet Mercan, chief economist at ING, commented:
“Given the deterioration in price dynamics and the underlying trend remaining above the CBT projection for the first half of this year, inflation prints for March and April will be key for the bank’s behaviour, given its clear forward guidance that the monetary policy stance will be tightened “in case significant and persistent deterioration in inflation outlook is anticipated.”