UPDATE - Türkiye's annual inflation at 68.5% in March, monthly rate down

UPDATING WITH TREASURY AND FINANCE MINISTER'S COMMENT

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) — Türkiye's annual inflation rate was 68.5% in March, up from 67.07% in February, official figures showed on Wednesday.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data showed that the highest price increase was seen in the education sector at 104.07%, followed by restaurants and hotels at 94.97%, and health at 80.25%.

The lowest inflation rates were posted by apparel and shoes with 50.1%, housing with 51.17%, and telecommunication with 59.54%.

On Monday, an Anadolu survey predicted the March inflation as 69.32% on a yearly and 3.67% on a monthly basis.

On a monthly basis, the inflation rate was 3.16% in March, decreasing from 4.53% in February.

Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said monthly inflation had declined last month, keeping with government projections.

In a post on X, he underlined that additional monetary tightening would significantly help rebalance demand, while further increasing external financing opportunities would strengthen macro-financial stability.

Simsek said that, together with fiscal policy tightened through spending controls, these developments would anchor inflation expectations and support the disinflation process. He added that efforts to address the aftermath of earthquakes that shook southern Türkiye last year would be exempt from these expenditure controls.

"We will do whatever it takes to achieve our primary priority of price stability," he added.