President Erdoğan says fiscal policy will not stoke inflation

While addressing the Foreign Economic Relations Board, Turkish President Erdoğan has argued that the recently adopted fiscal policy will not add to inflationary pressure as the country begins to experience some disinflationary relief in the second half of the year.

Sunday May 26 2024 07:16 pm

Reuters

Turkish fiscal policy will not add to inflationary pressure as the country begins to experience some disinflationary relief in the second half of the year, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on May 25.

Addressing the Foreign Economic Relations Board, Erdoğan said annual inflation should peak in May before cooling, echoing the forecasts of the central bank and offering his latest endorsement of the economic programme.

"We will enter a disinflationary period in the second half of the year. We will not allow for inflationary pressures through fiscal policy," he said.

The economic programme mainly aims to lower inflation to single digits, Erdoğan added. "We are aiming for a sustained drop in inflation, not temporary relief."

Annual consumer price inflation was near 70% in April and is expected to touch about 75% this month. The central bank has aggressively hiked interest rates to 50% since June last year, reversing a years-long easy-money policy under Erdoğan.