Inflation continued to rise in Turkey in February, reaching 54.4% year-on-year, a record high since January 2002, according to official statistics released today.
In January, the rise in consumer prices had reached 48.7% on an annual basis.
Less than 16 months before the next presidential election, which is expected to take place in June 2023, the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised to deal with rising prices, fueled by the collapse of the Turkish pound against the dollar and the euro.
The Turkish national currency lost almost 44% of its value against the dollar in 2021: this morning the exchange rate was 14.11 pounds for one dollar and 15.7 pounds for one euro, falling by about half a point.
For its part, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce announced on Tuesday the third increase of retail prices by 55.32% in the big city in February, something unprecedented for 20 years.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine risks further stimulating inflation, raising the costs of mainly energy imports and cereals.
Some Turkish and foreign economists regularly accuse the National Bureau of Statistics (Tuik) of underestimating the range of price increases by more than half.
President Erdogan fired Tuik’s director in late January. It was the fifth consecutive replacement since 2019.
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