Turkish inflation jumped to 75.45% in May: official data

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s annual inflation rate accelerated to 75.45 percent in May, official data showed Monday, as the central bank expects consumer prices have finally reached their peak and will begin to slow next month.

Turkey has been battling a cost-of-living crisis that prompted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to drop his opposition to interest-rate hikes to combat inflation.

The central bank began to raise its key rate in June 2023, gradually taking it from 8.5 percent to 50 percent.

Last month, central bank governor Fatih Karahan raised the year-end inflation forecast to 38 percent, up from a previous estimate of 36 percent.

READ: Turkey unveils three-year austerity plan to slow high inflation

But Karahan also said inflation would begin to slow in June after reaching a peak in May.

Turkey’s national statistics office said Monday that annual inflation reached 75.45 percent in May after accelerating to 69.8 percent in April.

It added that consumer prices had risen by 3.7 percent on a monthly basis between April and May, in line with central bank forecasts.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek announced a three-year austerity plan last month aimed at reducing public spending to calm inflation.

The staggering rise of consumer prices and the collapse of the Turkish lira are deemed responsible for the severe electoral setback inflicted on Erdogan’s AKP party in the March municipal elections.