Turkey’s official inflation rate hit its highest level in 20 years as soaring energy and food prices compound the economic challenges confronting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The consumer price index rose 61 per cent year on year in March, according to the Turkish statistical institute — up from 54 per cent in February and leaving it at the highest level since March 2002.
Food costs, which make up about a quarter of Turkey’s inflation basket, rose 70 per cent year on year. Energy costs rose almost 103 per cent and transport costs rose 99 per cent as a jump in commodity prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine took its toll on a country that imports almost all of its oil and natural gas supplies.