AA survey predicts Turkish inflation to rise in Dec.
Initial findings suggest Turkey's inflation rate to stay under 8.9 percent by end of 2014, according to Turkish Central Bank
ANKARA
Turkey's December inflation is expected to increase by 0.03 percent, according to a consumer price inflation survey by Anadolu Agency Finance.
A total of 19 economists estimated that inflation would increase by between -0.30 percent to 0.50 percent in December, according to the survey released on Tuesday.
The average year-end inflation is predicted to be 8.73 percent, while year-end inflation expectations range between 9.30 percent and 8.30 percent.
Turkey's statistics authority, TurkStat, will release the official inflation figures on Monday, Jan. 5.
- Turkish Central Bank under pressure over high inflation
The bank has been under tight pressure from Turkey's high inflation levels which have pushed above the seasonal average because of drought in the country this year which affected food prices.
In January this year, the Central Bank introduced drastic interest-rate hikes in response to the rise of the U.S. dollar against the Turkish lira.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, the 12-month moving average inflation in Turkey stood at 8.8 percent in November 2014.
"Initial findings suggest Turkey's inflation rate to stay under 8.9 percent by the end of 2014," Central Bank governor Erdem Basci said on Dec. 10 at a press conference to present the bank's 2015 monetary and exchange rate policy.
"Turkey needs extra efforts to lower inflation amid dropping gas prices," he added. Turkey spent nearly $56 billion on energy imports in 2013. Oil, natural gas and coal imports meet 70 percent of the country's energy needs.
"The bank's tight monetary policy is meeting its aims of controlling inflation forecast and the exchange rate....Turkey’s borrowing efforts for production, exports and investment have begun to yield results,” Basci said.
Basci talked about the possibility of a strong decline in the country’s inflation in the first four months of next year.
"But we will not relax the bank’s tight monetary policy," he added.
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