TÜİK head defends agency’s inflation calculation

ANKARA

Erhan Çetinkaya, the head of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), has dismissed criticism leveled at the authority over its inflation calculations.

Inflation is calculated in Türkiye the same way it is calculated in the world, Çetinkaya said in a press conference in the capital Ankara, adding that the difference between CPI (consumer price index) and PPI (producer price index) is not unique to Türkiye.

The annual CPI inflation slowed from 75.45 percent in May to 71.6 percent in June, TÜİK announced on July 3.

Producer prices rose 50.09 percent annually last month, easing from 57.68 percent in May.

The index is based on a fixed basket of goods and services representing the average spending habits of Turkish households, Çekinkaya told reporters.

“We calculate CPI by compiling over 600,000 prices each month across Türkiye. We are one of the countries in the world to announce these results earliest,” he said.

Some 300,000 of these prices consist of items purchased from markets and they are collected at the end of the month, Çetinkaya explained, noting that inflation is a calculation based on a weighted average of 600,000 prices.

The CPI is calculated in high conformity with Eurostat standards, said Çetinkaya.

He also argued that statistics authorities in EU member countries, the U.S. and Canada do not publish the prices of all items. Thus, TÜİK is unfairly criticized for publishing the items used in the inflation calculation but not the prices of all items, Çetinkaya said.

When asked about the discrepancy in calculations between TÜİK and ENAG, an inflation research group, Çetinkaya noted that ENAG does not provide information on its website about its calculation method.

“The monthly CPI rates published by ENAG are far from reflecting the truth,” Çetinkaya said.