Turkey’s Inflation Rate Rises to 48.7%, The Highest Level in 20 Years

Turkey’s annual inflation rate jumped more than expected to 48.69 percent in January, hitting its highest level in nearly two decades, data showed on Thursday, driven by a series of unconventional interest rate cuts and a sharp depreciation of the lira late last year.

The Turkish Statistical Institute said the consumer price index rose 11.1 percent on a monthly basis, compared to expectations in a Reuters poll of 9.8 percent and annual expectations of 46.7 percent.

The data showed that the producer price index rose 10.45 percent on a monthly basis in January, to rise on an annual basis to 93.53 percent in a reflection of the exchange rate-related turmoil in the past months.