UPDATE - Turkey: Inflation rate at 12.37% in February

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Inflation rate in Turkey was recorded at 12.37% in February, the country's statistical authority announced Tuesday.

Last month's figure was up 0.22 percentage points from 12.15% in January, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said in a statement.

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco saw the highest year-on-year price increase with 40.15%, while the lowest annual rise was 2.27% in communication, the state-run body said.

Last week, a group of 18 economists polled by Anadolu Agency forecast an average annual climb of 12.77% for consumer prices in February.

The economists also predicted that Turkey's year-end annual inflation would be 12.76% on average, with predictions varying between 12.42 and 13.30%.

- Monthly figures

On a monthly basis, consumer price index rose 0.35% last month.

The highest monthly price increase was seen in food and non-alcoholic beverages, rising 2.33%, while the highest monthly price decrease was in clothing and footwear, going down 4.83%.

TurkStat data also showed that the 12-month average hike in consumer prices was 13.94% as of February.

The government targeted the country's inflation rate to hit 8.5% in 2020 under its new economic program for 2020-2022 announced last September.

Turkey’s Central Bank forecasts year-end inflation to be at 8.2% this year.

Last year, the annual inflation rate dropped gradually from 20.35% in January to 8.55% in October while closing the year with 11.84% in December.

Over the last decade, annual inflation saw its lowest level at 3.99% in March 2011, while it peaked at 25.24% in October 2018.