Turkey’s economy has been through a lot lately. On the one hand, its legal tender tests new lows regularly. On the other hand, inflation in the country jumps from one record rate to another. In June, Turkey’s annual inflation surged to almost 80%. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, consumer prices in the country peaked at 78.62% in June, up by 4.95% from the previous month. Nevertheless, Minister of Finance Nureddin Nebati sees inflation falling to 48-49% in the last six months of 2022 and 19.9% by the end of 2023. The official also ruled out the possibility of lowering interest rates. In early July, Turkey's lira tumbled to 17 per dollar. The plunge came after Turkey’s Central Bank had to lower interest rates under the pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Meanwhile, the Inflation Research Group (ENAG) has estimated that consumer prices in Turkey accelerated to 175.55% versus 160.75% in June, up by 8.31% in a month. Since December 2021, the interest rate in the country has been at 14%. Erdogan once reassured the country’s citizens that inflation would slow down in the spring of this year. Later, he promised it would start to go down in the summer. He now says six more months are needed to prove his policy effective.
