The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) yesterday announced that it will continue to use all available instruments in pursuit of the price stability objective.
"The Central Bank will take the necessary actions to support price stability," the bank said. The announcement came following the release of the inflation report for August by the national statistical authority TurkStat.
According to the body, consumer prices in Turkey rose 17.90 percent on a yearly basis last month while the annual inflation was 15.85 percent in July.
"Recent developments regarding the inflation outlook indicate significant risks to price stability," the CBRT said, adding: "Accordingly, in line with the previous communication, monetary stance will be adjusted at the September Monetary Policy Committee Meeting in view of the latest developments."
At the bank's sixth Monetary Policy Committee meeting this year, on July 24, the CBRT kept its one-week repo rate – also known as the bank's policy rate – constant at 17.75 percent.
According to the bank's schedule, the next three meetings are to be held on Sept. 13, Oct. 25, and Dec. 13.
While the inflation rate turned out close to the expectations of economists, analysts think that the central bank is paying attention to the risks related to inflation and will give the necessary reaction to support price stability.
On a yearly basis, the biggest price hike was in transportation services in August – up at 27.13 percent – and in furnishing and household equipment at 23.76 percent.
According to TurkStat, inflation was 23.33 percent in "miscellaneous goods and services," 19.75 percent in food and non-alcoholic beverages, and 16.30 percent in housing prices.
On a monthly basis, the consumer prices rose by 2.30 percent in August, as the highest monthly increase was 5.85 percent in "miscellaneous goods and services."
TurkStat said clothing and footwear prices saw a 1.59 percent drop in August.
Official data showed that tomato sauce, eggs and watermelon were the top three items with the biggest price hikes in August while the price of onions, carrots and tomatoes saw the biggest drop.
"In August 2018 within average prices of 407 items in the index, average prices of 44 items remained unchanged while the average prices of 304 items increased and the average prices of 59 items decreased," the institute added.
