UPDATE - Turkey's inflation rate falls to 19.50% in April

UPDATE WITH MORE DETAILS AND BACKGROUND

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey saw a 19.50% year-on-year rise in consumer prices last month, the country's statistical authority announced Friday.

The annual inflation rate in April was down from 19.71% the previous month, according to TurkStat.

The April figure was also below market expectations.

A group of 16 economists polled by Anadolu Agency forecast consumer prices in Turkey would rise 20.25% compared to the same month last year.

The highest price increase last month was seen in food and non-alcoholic beverages, up 31.86% on a yearly basis.

The economists also forecast that Turkey's year-end annual inflation would be 16.13% on average -- with the lowest estimate at 14.50%, and the highest at 19.70%.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 1.69% in April, TurkStat said.

Economists forecast monthly inflation of 2.33%, with predictions varying between 1.94% and 2.80%.

The highest monthly increase month-on-month was seen in alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 6.77% while the only monthly decrease was 0.30% in communication, according to the data.

"In April 2019 within average prices of 418 items in the index, average prices of 42 items remained unchanged, while average prices of 294 items increased, and average prices of 82 items decreased," it said.

TurkStat data showed that the 12-month average hike in consumer prices was 19.39% as of this April.

The Turkish Central Bank on Tuesday kept the country's year-end inflation forecasts at 14.6% this year, 8.2% next year, and 5.4% in 2021.

As noted in the bank’s quarterly inflation report, the figure is expected to fluctuate between 12.1% and 17.2% through the end of 2019.

Over the last decade, annual inflation saw its lowest level at 3.99% in March 2011, while it peaked at 25.24% in October 2018.

As laid out in Turkey's new economic program announced last September, the country's inflation rate target is 15.9 percent this year, 9.8 percent in 2020, and 6.0 percent in 2021.