Turkey’s inflation rises above expectations through March

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

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Turkey’s inflation for March rose by 0.66 percent from the previous month, above market expectations, promoting fears of a negative impact on the markets in the short term and continuing risks for the long term.

The year-on-year figure moved up to 7.29 percent from last month’s 7.03, official data released today by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) showed. The 12-month average inflation rate amounted to 8.33 percent as of March.

“March figures indicate rising risks of inflation surges,” Ali Çakıroğlu, HSBC portfolio strategist, told Anatolia news agency.

The highest monthly increase was 2.04 percent in food and nonalcoholic beverages, but the prices of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products increased most on an annual basis with a 16.31 percent hike.

Economists blame rising food prices for the increase in inflation and expect the prices to continue their surging trend.