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Turkey’s inflation hits almost 80% as Erdogan insists on low-rate policy

Despite a relative slowdown in July, Turkey’s consumer inflation appears on course to overshoot the central bank’s newly revised year-end forecast of 60.4%.
People shop in a busy market ahead of the start of the holy month of Ramadan on April 1, 2022, in Istanbul, Turkey.
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Turkey’s annual consumer inflation climbed to 79.6% in July, official data showed Wednesday, and the uptick appears months away from topping out, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sticking to a controversial policy against hiking interest rates. 

Consumer prices rose 2.37% in July, marking the lowest month-to-month increase since January thanks to a relative slowing in food inflation, a drop in fuel prices and the Turkish lira’s relatively small losses against hard currencies. Nevertheless, annual inflation appears on course to overshoot the central bank’s year-end projection of 60.4%, revised upward from 42.8% just last week.

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