Turkey’s monthly inflation for January is expected to rise 1.36%, economists said Friday. The estimates from 17 experts interviewed by Anadolu Agency varied from 0.75% to 2.20%. The economists also forecast that Turkey’s year-end inflation rate will reach 9.49%—with the highest forecast at 8.70% and the lowest at 12.10%. Annual inflation, which was 11.92% in December, is expected to fall to 10.72% in January, according to the economists’ expectations. The inflation rate in January 2017 was 9.22%. The Turkish Statistical Institute is due to release official figures for January on Monday. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has met Central Bank Governor Murat Cetinkaya and officials from state banks to discuss steps to reduce interest rates and encourage investment, a senior economic official said on Friday, Reuters said. They also discussed credit expansion and increasing exports at Thursday’s meeting, the official said. Presidential adviser Cemil Ertem told state-run broadcaster TRT Haber that Erdogan and the bankers discussed possible reforms that would be introduced to encourage the central bank to reduce interest rates.
