Turkey's annual inflation hits nearly nine-year high of 12 pct in April

Turkey's annual inflation rate increased in April, reaching its highest level in around nine years, as a result of a weak Turkish Lira in several sectors, according to official data released on May 3. 

Consumer prices in Turkey rose 11.87 percent year-on-year in April from 11.29 percent in March, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute (TÜİK) showed. Annual consumer price inflation was also at the highest level since October 2008.

April's consumer price inflation was driven by food prices which rose 1.23 percent from a month earlier.

Clothing and footwear prices also climbed 9.13 percent as the season turned from winter to spring, when most people shop for apparel.

In some street bazaars, the price of some produce like tomatoes rose 70 percent in recent weeks. Red meat prices have also continued to rise, despite a number of measures to ease costs for consumers.

The highest annual increase was 21.65 percent on alcoholic beverages and tobacco, according to the TÜİK data. This was followed by transportation at 17.94 percent and food and non-alcoholic beverages at 15.63 percent. 

Annual core inflation, which excludes the impact of volatile items such as food and energy, slowed from 9.5 percent in March to 9.4 percent in April, while the rise in headline inflation continued. 

Turkey's Central Bank raised its inflation forecasts for this year and 2018 on April 28, saying it was ready to tighten policy further if needed, while adding that it was confident its recent steps would start to bear fruit in the months ahead.

At a quarterly presentation, the bank raised its mid-point forecast for inflation at the end of 2017 to 8.5 percent from a previous forecast three months ago of 8 percent. It lifted its...