Inflation in Turkey rises to nearly 80%, hitting consumers

ISTANBUL (AP) — Annual inflation in Turkey soared to nearly 80% in July. The Turkish Statistical Institute said Wednesday that consumer prices rose by 79.6% from a year earlier, up about 1 percentage point from June data. Skyrocketing food, housing and energy prices have hit Turkish consumers hard. Independent experts say inflation is much higher than official statistics. Economists also say the huge rise in inflation is caused by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unorthodox belief that high borrowing costs lead to inflation despite established economic theory. Turkey’s central bank slashed interest rates by 5 percentage points since September. While the bank has not made further cuts this year, central banks across the world are moving the opposite way.