ISTANBUL, April 3 — Turkiye’s annual inflation rate slowed to 50 per cent in March, official data showed today, delivering another boost for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead May elections.

The inflation rate slowed for a fifth consecutive month from a high of more than 85 per cent, according to the state statistics agency.

The official rate stood at 50.5 last month, down from 55.2 per cent in February.

The slowdown was led by a drop in the cost Turkiye’s energy imports, the figures showed.

But analysts warn that consumer price increase may start speeding up again unless Turkiye radically alters its economic policies.

Erdogan has tried to fight inflation by slashing interests rates, the opposite approach taken by central banks in other countries.

Analysts warn that the economy may start heating up as the government rebuilds huge swaths of Turkiye’s southeast that were hit by a massive earthquake in February in which more than 50,000 people died.

Turkiye’s economy must now absorb the consequences of the catastrophe which, according to the World Bank, caused an estimated US$34.2 billion (RM151.1 billion) in direct physical damages — the equivalent of four per cent of Turkiye’s 2021 gross domestic product.

Erdogan, who will try to extend his rule into a third decade in the May 14 election, put the cost of the damage at US$104 billion.

Turkiye’s official inflation rate is questioned by independent economists from the ENAG research group, which estimates that consumer prices increased at an annualised rate of 112.5 per cent in March, down from 126.9 percent in February. — AFP