ISTANBUL, June 4: Turkish inflation jumped above 75 percent in May, official data showed Monday, but officials expect consumer prices to have finally peaked in a cost-of-living crisis that has dogged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey has been battling soaring consumer prices that prompted Erdogan to drop his opposition to interest-rate hikes to combat inflation.
The central bank began to raise its key rate in June 2023, gradually taking it from 8.5 percent to 50 percent.
Last month, central bank governor Fatih Karahan raised the year-end inflation forecast to 38 percent, up from a previous estimate of 36 percent.
But Karahan also said inflation would begin to slow in June after reaching a peak in May.
"The hardest part is over," Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek wrote Monday on X.
"The permanent drop in inflation will begin in June," he added. "The transition period in the fight against inflation has been completed and we are entering the process of disinflation."
Inflation will "very likely" fall under 50 percent by the end of the third quarter, Simsek predicted.
The staggering rise of consumer prices and the collapse of the Turkish lira are deemed responsible for the severe electoral setback inflicted on Erdogans AKP party in March municipal elections.
Turkeys national statistics office said Monday that annual inflation reached 75.45 percent in May after accelerating to 69.8 percent in April.
It added that consumer prices had risen by 3.7 percent on a monthly basis between April and May, in line with central bank forecasts. —AFP
