Economists unmoved by pause in Turkish lira's plummet
Though the latest news about Turkey's currency is good, economists still believe Turkey could well be sailing into recession, while at the G-20 summit, the Turkish president is frustrated by how little is being made of the Jamal Khashoggi murder case.
ANKARA — Turks received rare good news on the economic front Monday when it was announced the inflation rate had dropped to below 22% in November, down from over 25% in October — the highest rate in 15 years.
The Turkish Statistical Institute reported that annual inflation had fallen by 3.62% from 25.24% in October. Economists gave credit to the stronger Turkish lira, whose year-long fall against the dollar was arrested by a huge hike in interest rates in September, as well as the government’s cutting taxes on consumer goods.
“Tax cuts for the automotive, white goods and furniture sectors were the key factor in bringing down inflation,” economist Muammer Komurcuoglu of Is Investment told Reuters.
Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said the figures showed the success of his policies, tweeting, “The rebalancing process has shown its effects on the inflation figures, as it did on the exchange rates and interest rates.”
