Turkey: Food prices surged by 89 per cent, transportation costs increased by 106 per cent

Turkey’s inflation rate skyrocketed to almost 70 per cent last month, creating a substantial challenge for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose unusual economic strategies are frequently blamed for the country’s economic woes.

Erdogan, defying economic conventional wisdom, insists that major interest rate cuts are essential to reduce spiralling consumer costs.

Turkey’s consumer price index (CPI) climbed by 69.97 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in April 2022, compared to 61.14 per cent in March 2022, according to the national statistics agency, indicating a massive increase.

The transportation industry saw the largest price rises in April, up 105.9 per cent, while food and non-alcoholic drinks cost increased by 89.1 per cent.

Likewise, lira’s depreciation has quadrupled the cost of energy imports, and international investors are progressively fleeing the formerly emerging economy. Energy price hikes and production constraints have been worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the coronavirus outbreak.

According to economists, Turkey’s yearly inflation rate – the highest since Erdogan’s ruling AKP party took office in 2002 – is entirely due to Erdogan’s unusual economic thinking.

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Erdogan has pushed the supposedly independent central bank to reduce interest rates. Despite strong inflation, the bank maintained its benchmark interest rate for the fourth month in a row in April, yielding to criticism.