Good news for the Turks, inflation continues to slow down in recent weeks in Turkey. Inflation in Turkey slowed in January for the third consecutive month, to 57.7% year on year from 64.3% in December, official data showed on Friday.

This slowdown can be explained by a “base effect”, prices having continued to rise month after month, but less sharply than a year earlier.

Over one month, consumer prices increased by 6.7%.

This slowdown can be explained by a “base effect”, prices having continued to rise month after month, but less sharply than a year earlier.

Over one month, consumer prices increased by 6.7%.

Inflation, fueled in particular by the weakness of the Turkish lira, had reached 85.5% over twelve months in October, at a level not seen since June 1998, before slowing down in November for the first time in eighteen months.

The official figures are, however, disputed by independent economists from the Inflation Research Group (Enag), according to which consumer price inflation slowed to 121.6% year-on-year in January, from 137.5% in December.

100 days before the presidential election, scheduled for May, in which he is a new candidate, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that interest rates, stable since November, would drop again.

Contrary to traditional economic theories, the Head of State believes that high interest rates promote inflation.

But this monetary policy has helped fuel the fall of the Turkish lira and drive up the cost of living.

Mr. Erdogan, who says he favors growth and employment over price stability, said at the end of January that “inflation will slow down rapidly” in his country to reach “30% in the months to come”.

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