UPDATE - Turkey's inflation rate up in June

UPDATED WITH MORE FIGURES

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Consumer prices in Turkey went up in June versus the same month last year, the country's statistical authority announced Friday.

June's annual inflation rate was at 12.62% from 11.39% in May, Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed.

By sector, June’s lowest annual increase in inflation was 4.84% in communications, while the highest rise was in alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 22.41%.

A group of 16 economists polled by Anadolu Agency on Tuesday predicted annual inflation would climb to 12.14% in June.

The economists also predicted a 0.70% monthly increase in the consumer price index, with estimates ranging between 0.45% at the lowest and 1.3% at the highest.

Last month, the consumer price index saw a rise of 1.13% on a monthly basis.

TurkStat data also showed that the 12-month average hike in consumer prices as of June was 11.88%.

On a monthly basis, while food and beverages prices were down by 1.6%, the largest increase was seen in the transportation sector with 4.49%.

"In June 2020, within the average prices of 418 items in the index, the average prices of 71 items decreased and the average prices of 57 items remained unchanged while the average prices of 290 items increased," TurkStat noted.

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

The institute will release the next inflation data on Aug. 4.