Photo : Collected
Although Turkish inflation slowed in September, it is still raging out of control with the government avoiding difficult decisions that could help tackle it, experts told AFP.
Turkey has experienced spiralling inflation the past two years, peaking at an annual rate of 85.5 percent in October 2022 and 75.45 percent in May. The government claims it slowed to 49.4 percent in September.
But the figures are disputed by the ENAG group of independent economists who estimate that year-on-year inflation stood at 88.6 percent in September.
Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said Ankara was hoping to bring inflation down to 17.6 percent by the end of 2025 and to "single digits" by 2026.
And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently hailed Turkey's success in "starting the process of permanent disinflation".
"The hard times are behind us," he said.
But economists interviewed by AFP said the surge in consumer prices in Turkey had become "chronic" and is being exacerbated by some government policies.
"The current drop is simply due to a base effect. The price rises over the course of a month is still high, at 2.97 percent across Turkey and 3.9 percent in Istanbul.
"You can't call this a success story," said Mehmet Sisman, economics professor at Istanbul's Marmara University.
Messenger/Disha
