Inflation in Turkey reaches 24-year high… Details
In a new sign of the collapse of the Turkish economy as a result of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s economic policies, the annual inflation rate rose in Turkey, registering 80.21% in August. Unofficial data say that the inflation rate reached 181.37%, according to the Turkish newspaper Zaman.
Above 80%, Turkish inflation is at its highest level in 24 years, after the central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates last month, according to Reuters.
Zaman quoted the Turkish Statistical Institute as saying: Inflation figures for August rose by 1.46% on a monthly basis in August, and by 80.21% on an annual basis.
Meanwhile, the Inflation Research Group, established by academics, announced that the annual inflation rate for the month of August reached 181.37%, indicating that the consumer price index increased by 5.86% in August, according to Zaman.
At the beginning of last month, official Turkish data showed that annual inflation had accelerated to 79.6% last July, from 78.6% last June. Istanbul, the most densely populated city in Turkey, saw prices rise above 99% in July compared to the previous year.
While most of the world’s economies are moving to raise interest rates to curb inflation, Erdoğan insists on lower interest rates. After a series of rate cuts by the Turkish Central Bank last year, the currency lost more than half its value, before recovering slightly after a package of measures announced by the government in the last weeks of 2012.
Collapse of the lira
The Turkish currency (the lira) continued to collapse. The exchange rate of the dollar in Turkey began trading for the week with a new increase of 0.1%, registering 18.22 lira, the lowest level ever.
While observers blame Erdogan’s regime for its economic policies, Investing Cube.com points out that the dollar has continued its strong upward trend in the past few months as a result of the “cautious tone” of the Turkish Central Bank, predicting that the dollar will continue to rise to 19 lira.
