ANKARA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye's annual inflation marginally eased to 30.87 percent in March from 31.53 percent in February, marking a four-year low but remaining stubbornly high, according to official data on Friday.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 1.94 percent in March, compared with 2.96 percent in February, driven by education and housing prices, the data from the Turkish Statistical Institute showed.
The annual changes in the three main expenditure groups with the highest weight were as follows: a 32.36 percent increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages, a 34.35 percent increase in transport, and a 42.06 percent increase in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels.
Türkiye has been wrestling with high inflation since a 2018 currency crisis, and elevated price pressures have eroded the purchasing power of households and businesses.
In April 2022, Türkiye's annual inflation hit a high point of nearly 70 percent.
The country's central bank has been gradually cutting its benchmark one-week repo rate since mid-2025.
However, Türkiye's central bank kept its key policy rate unchanged at 37 percent last month, pausing an easing cycle that began last year as rising inflation and tensions in the Middle East complicate the country's economic outlook.
A report by the Ankara-based think tank Economic Policy Research Foundation of Türkiye warned that a prolonged Gulf conflict could worsen cost pressures on Turkish industries already squeezed by high interest rates. It estimated that a 10-dollar-per-barrel rise in oil prices could add 4.5 billion to 5 billion dollars to the country's current-account deficit, risking a feedback loop of rising costs, weakening external balances, and renewed inflation.
In late March, U.S.-based S&P Global lifted its 2026 average inflation forecast for Türkiye to 28.9 percent from 23.4 percent, pointing to renewed price pressures driven by higher energy costs tied to the Iran war. ■
