Consumer prices in Turkey rose by 56.2 percent in July from a year earlier, while wholesale prices climbed by 52.3 percent in the same period, the state statistics institute said Thursday. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 2.2 percent in July from June and wholesale prices were up one percent.
Annual inflation stood at 58.6 percent in June with a 0.7 percent monthly rise, 62.7 percent in May with a 2.2 percent monthly rise and 63.8 percent in April with a 2.3 percent monthly rise. Price hikes have been on the decline since December when Ankara launched a three-year, $ four billion program of economic reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce its chronic inflation.
The government of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit aims to bring down inflation to 20-25 percent by the year's end, 10 percent in 2001 and 5.0 percent in 2002.
The IMF has hailed Ankara's anti-inflation drive as successful, but economy experts say the 20 percent year-end target is difficult to achieve. Turkey's inflation stood at 68.8 percent in 1999 and 69.7 percent in 1998.
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
