Turkish annual inflation slows to 38.1% in March, below forecasts

Month-onmonth, inflation was 2.46 per cent and in February inflation stood at 2.27 per cent ona monthly basis and 59.058 annually

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Turkish annual consumer price inflation slowed to 38.1 per cent in March, official data showed on Thursday, lower than a Reuters poll forecast and extending its fall from a peak of around 75 per cent last May.

Turkey's inflation sustained its downward trend last month despite a sell-off of Turkish assets following the detention of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

His arrest provoked the largest anti-government protests in a decade and sent the lira currency tumbling to a record low.

Month-on-month, inflation was 2.46 percent, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute, also below forecasts. In February, inflation stood at 2.27 per cent on a monthly basis and 39.05 per cent annually.

Annual inflation in the key food and nonalcoholic drinks sector was slightly lower than the headline rate, at 37.12 per cent.

Price hikes were led by a 80.42 per cent rise in education prices, followed by a 68.63 per cent increase in housing prices.

In a Reuters poll, monthly inflation rate is seen edging up to 3 per cent in March, with the annual rate seen falling to 38.9 per cent.

Based on the median forecast of nine poll respondents, year-end inflation is seen at 29.75 per cent, up one percentage point from the previous poll, due to fallout from the market volatility last week in which Turkish assets fell.