Turkish inflation hits highest in 2023 as housing costs soar

Reuters/Cagla Gurdogan

Turkey’s annual inflation rate surged to 61.98 percent in November, its highest level this year, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute.

Consumer price inflation (CPI) rose 3.28 percent month on month, beating a Reuters poll forecast of 3.9 percent.

The higher inflation was due to an 11 percent climb month on month in housing-related costs, although clothing and transportation costs remained flat.

• Turkey’s GDP grows 5.9% on strong household spending
• Turkey’s trade with GCC soars 11-fold in two decades
• Turkish house sales drop 14% as prices double

In October, annual inflation fell for the first time in three months to 61.36 percent.

Earlier this month, the official statistics data showed Turkey’s economy grew by 5.9 percent in the third quarter of 2023 – the highest since the second quarter of last year – driven by strong household spending.

At current prices, gross domestic product reached 7.68 trillion liras ($295.82 billion).

Turkey’s central bank last month increased its policy rate by 500 basis points to 40 percent and said the pace of monetary tightening would slow down shortly.

“The committee assessed that the current level of monetary tightness is significantly close to the level required to establish the disinflation course,” the bank said in a statement following its monetary policy committee meeting.

Since June, the central bank has raised its one-week repo rate by 3,150 basis points.