UPDATE - Turkey's inflation rate down in July

UPDATES WITH MORE FIGURES

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) – Consumer prices in Turkey went up in July compared to the same month last year, the country's statistical authority announced Tuesday.

July's annual inflation rate was at 11.76% down from 12.62% in June, Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

A group of 15 economists polled by Anadolu Agency on Wednesday predicted annual inflation would drop to 12.03% in July.

The economists also predicted a 0.82% monthly increase in the consumer price index, with estimates ranging between 0.3% at the lowest and 1% at the highest.

Last month, the consumer price index saw a 0.58% rise on a monthly basis.

TurkStat data also showed that the 12-month average hike in consumer prices as of July was 11.51%.

On a monthly basis, while food and beverages prices were down 1.28%, the largest increase was seen in the transportation sector with 2.44%.

The highest monthly decrease, on the other hand, was 3.48% in clothing and footwear.

"In July 2020 within average prices of 418 items in the index, the average prices of 111 items decreased and the average prices of 54 items remained unchanged while the average prices of 253 items increased," TurkStat noted.

The government's year-end inflation target is 8.5% for 2020, as laid out last September in its new economic program.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Central Bank last week revised its year-end inflation forecast to 8.9%, up from 7.4%.