Inflation in Turkey slowed for the first time in a year and a half – in November it fell to 84.39% year-on-year from 85.51% a month earlier, the country’s Statistics Institute reported. The last time prices in Turkey declined in the spring of 2021, the country’s inflation rate was 17.14% in April and 16.59% in May.

“Unless there are unexpected events at the global level, the peak of inflation has passed, we have entered a downtrend,” Turkish Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said.

The inflation rate in November in Turkey was below the average forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg: they expected annualized inflation to be 84.8%. The agency notes that a survey conducted by the Turkish Central Bank in November showed that respondents expect inflation to fall to 68% by the end of 2022 and almost to 21% in two years. The regulator itself forecasts that consumer price growth will reach 65% at the end of the year, which is 13 times higher than the target (5%).

Since August 2022, the Central Bank of Turkey has cut rates four rows in a row: from 14% to 9%. This goes against synchronized rate hikes by regulators in most developed countries trying to bring down inflation. But it meets the requirements of the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who believes that lower borrowing costs can lower prices, the agency notes. The relative stability of the Turkish currency also helps to keep prices down.