Turkish inflation slows to 44% ahead of landmark election

Turkish annual inflation slowed to 43.68% in April, official data showed on Wednesday, easing ahead of elections that polls show President Tayyip Erdogan risks losing largely due to a cost-of-living crisis.

Unorthodox rate cuts sought by Erdogan sparked a currency crisis in late 2021, sending inflation to a 24-year peak of 85.51% last year. It fell in December and touched 50.51% by March with a favourable base effect and relatively stable lira.

The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.39% in April from a month earlier, the Turkish Statistical Institute said. The official numbers were slightly less than predicted, with a median monthly estimate of 2.60% and an annual forecast of 44% in the latest Reuters poll.

The cost of living crisis has eaten away at household savings and also at Erdogan’s popularity ahead of the presidential and parliamentary votes on May 14, seen as the president’s biggest test in his 20-year reign.

Some polls show Erdogan trailing his main opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu.