Istanbul retail prices up 1.5 pct in July

ISTANBUL

Retail prices in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city by population, rose 1.52 percent month-on-month in July, data from the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) have shown.

Housing expenses increased by 4.67 percent last month from June while the increase in food prices in the country’s commercial and financial center was 1.15 percent.

Transport and communication costs inched up 0.04 percent on a monthly basis and culture, education and entertainment prices increased 1.1 percent in July from June.

According to the İTO data, health service prices rose by 0.37 percent month-on-month, but clothing prices declined 3.1 percent in the city.

The annual increase in retail prices was 17.38 percent.

The chamber also reported that wholesale prices in Istanbul rose by 3.12 percent month-on-month in July for an annual rise of 27.63 percent.

The Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) will release its inflation data for July this week.

Turkey’s annual inflation rate was at 17.53 percent in June, climbing 1.94 percent on a monthly basis.

Last week, the Central Bank released its quarterly inflation report. The bank lifted its year-end inflation forecast to 14.1 percent for this year, from 12.2 percent in its previous report.

The bank also hiked the inflation forecast for 2022 to 7.8 percent, up from 7.5 percent, while keeping the target of 5 percent for 2023.

Inflation is expected to drop significantly in the third and fourth quarters of 2021, said Şahap Kavcıoğlu, the bank’s governor.

He underlined that the bank continues to use all tools with determination and that its policy stance will continue to be formed around inflation.