Inflation to decline significantly next year: VP Cevdet Yılmaz

DENIZLI

The decline in inflation is expected to continue in the coming period, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said, noting that annual inflation has fallen by 27 points in the past four months.

“In mid-2025 or in the fall, we won’t be talking about inflation anymore,” Yılmaz said in a speech at a gathering with businesspeople in the province of Denizli.

There is no contradiction between inflation and growth in the medium and long term, he argued.

“In the past in Türkiye when inflation was at its lowest, the growth rate was at its highest,” Yılmaz said.

According to the latest official data, the annual inflation rate slowed from 49.4 percent in September to 48.6 in October, but surprising on the upside.

Earlier this month, the Central Bank revised its inflation estimate for 2024 upward, from a previous 38 percent to 44 percent.

It also raised its inflation forecast for the end of 2025 from 14 percent to 21 percent. The bank expects annual inflation to decline to 12 percent in 2026.

The Turkish economy is likely to grow by around 4 percent this year, with the size of the economy exceeding $1.3 trillion, before the GDP expansion accelerates to 4.5 percent and 5 percent next year and in 2027, Yılmaz said.

The government managed to keep the budget deficit at 5.2 percent of GDP last year and the deficit is expected to be around 4.9. percent this year, Yılmaz said, adding that the impact of earthquake-related expenditures on the budget was temporary.