Turkish inflation nearing 81pc

Turkey's inflation is expected to near 81 per cent in July and was seen declining to just 70 per cent by end-2022, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, as global energy and commodity costs and the lira's steady decline continue to push prices higher.

Inflation has surged since last autumn, when the lira slumped after the central bank gradually cut its policy rate by 500 basis-points to 14 per cent in an easing cycle sought by President Tayyip Erdogan. It has been further stoked this year by the economic fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as the lira's continued decline. The currency shed 44 per cent against the dollar last year, and is down 27 per cent this year.

The median estimate 10 institutions who participated in the Reuters poll for annual inflation in July was 80.50 per cent, with forecasts ranging between 79.45 per cent and 82.50 per cent.

That would make it the highest reading since August 1998, when annual inflation was 81.4 per cent and Turkey was battling to end a decade of chronically high inflation. The median forecast for the monthly figure was 2.90 per cent, in a range of 2.28 per cent and 4 per cent.