UPDATE - Turkey’s annual inflation rate at 16.59% in May

UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS

By Yunus Girgin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey's annual inflation rate stands at 16.59% in May, down from 17.14% in April, the country’s statistical authority announced on Thursday.

The annual figure in consumer prices decreased by 0.55 percentage points last month, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

Economists polled by Anadolu Agency last week projected the inflation rate would be 17.17%.

The highest annual price increase last month was seen in transportation with 28.39%, followed by furnishings and household equipment with 21.79%, and health with 19.30%.

The lowest annual increase, on the other hand, was 2.90% in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, the institute said.

Clothing and footwear with 5.75%, communication with 8.07% and recreation and culture with 10.05%, were the other main groups where lowest annual increases were seen.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index went up by 0.89% in May.

The median of estimates for May by economists was a 1.39% rise compared to the previous month.

In May, recreation and culture with 1.32%, alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 0.01% were groups that indicated monthly decrease amongst the main groups, TurkStat noted.

TurkStat data also showed that the lowest monthly rise was 0.29% in alcoholic beverages and tobacco, while transportation posted the highest monthly rise with 2.56%.

Turkey's Central Bank forecasts the country's year-end inflation to hit 12.2% for this year.