UPDATE - Turkey's annual inflation rate in July at 16.65%

UPDATES WITH BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MONTHLY FIGURES

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey saw a 16.65% annual hike in consumer prices last month, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported Monday.

The annual inflation in July rose by 0.93 percentage points from 15.72% previous month.

The highest price increase on a yearly basis was seen in miscellaneous goods and services with 26.93% in July.

"Furnishing and household equipment with 25.41%, hotels, cafes and restaurants with 19.85%, alcoholic beverages and tobacco with 19.23% and food and non-alcoholic beverages with 18.21% were the other main groups where high annual increases were realized," TurkStat said.

Last week, an Anadolu Agency survey showed that a group of 12 economists forecast an average annual climb of 16.70% in consumer prices.

According to economists' average year-end estimates, annual inflation would be 14.8% -- with the lowest estimate at 13.3%, and the highest at 17.2%.

Over the past five years, annual inflation saw its lowest level in April 2016, with 6.57%, and its highest level last October with 25.24%.

As laid out in Turkey's new economic program announced by the government last September, the country's inflation rate target is 15.9% this year, 9.8% next year, and 6.0% in 2021.

According to the Inflation Report 2019-III released by Turkey's Central Bank in July 31, the year-end annual inflation is forecasted to reach 13.9% in 2019.

On a monthly basis, the consumer prices went up 1.36% in July.

The highest monthly decline was 3.20% in clothing and footwear, as the highest monthly increase was seen in transportation, up 4.46%.

TurkStat data also showed that the 12-month average hike in consumer prices was 19.91% last month.