UPDATES WITH COMMENTS FROM TURKISH VICE PRESIDENT
By Tuba Ongun and Gokhan Ergocun
ANKARA/ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye's annual inflation rate eased for the ninth consecutive month, reaching 39.05% in February—the lowest level since July 2023—according to official data released on Monday.
Headline inflation decreased from 42.12% in January, falling below market expectations, TurkStat said. Economists polled by Anadolu last week had projected inflation to be at 40%.
The cost of energy rose by 43.92% year-on-year in February, slightly accelerating from January’s 43.05%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices increased at their slowest pace since November 2021, rising 35.11%, down from 41.76% in January.
Annual core inflation, which excludes volatile items such as energy and food, meanwhile, fell to a 37-month low of 40.21%.
On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.27%, compared to 5.03% in January.
Core CPI increased 1.80% month-on-month, significantly lower than the 5.59% hike recorded in January.
Commenting on the figures, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said the government expects the steady decline in inflation to continue, supported by fiscal and income policies that promote the disinflation process and improve expectations.
"We will resolutely implement our policies to achieve price stability, which will permanently improve the purchasing power and income distribution of our citizens," Simsek wrote on X.
Cevdet Yilmaz, the vice president of Türkiye, said inflation continues to decrease as a result of government policies.
While the stabilization in demand contributed to the decline, inflation expectations of consumers and firms also declined, he said on X.
He added that the relatively low course of producer inflation continues to have a favorable cost-side impact on consumer prices, which indicates that the normalization in pricing behavior continues.
The producer prices index fell to 25.21% in February, the lowest since December 2020.