Türkiye sharply raises 2022 inflation forecast to 65 pct

ANKARA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Türkiye sharply raised the country's inflation forecast for 2022 to 65 percent, up from 9.8 percent predicted one year ago, according to a government program published in the Official Gazette on Sunday.

The new three-year Medium Term Program, which was jointly prepared by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and the Directorate of Strategy and Budget, expects the country's inflation will fall to 24.9 percent in 2023, 13.8 percent in 2024 and 9.9 percent in 2025.

The latest inflation forecast from the program for 2022 indicated a big increase from the 9.8 percent seen in the same report one year ago, although it was only slightly higher than the central bank's prediction in July that Türkiye's year-end inflation would be 60.4 percent.

The program estimates Türkiye's economy to grow by 5 percent in 2023, 5.5 percent in 2024 and 2025.

Türkiye's unemployment rates are expected to be 10.8 percent in 2022, 10.4 percent in 2023, 9.9 percent in 2024 and 9.6 percent in 2025, it notes, adding the country's foreign trade deficit is expected to reach 105 billion U. S. dollars in 2022 and 80 billion dollars in 2023.

The program predicts that an increase in production and productivity would limit price increases, among which the food prices would be reduced to single digits in three years, while the Turkish lira would become stable.

Türkiye's economy grew by 7.6 percent year on year in the second quarter. Its annual inflation hit 79.6 percent in July, the highest level in 24 years.

Türkiye is facing financial woes unseen in decades, with the Turkish lira keeping plunging since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. The Russia-Ukraine conflict that started in late February worsened Türkiye's situation by pushing energy prices to new highs.

Despite high inflation, Türkiye did not raise interest rates as many monetary authorities did to counter inflation.

Last month, the central bank shocked markets again with a 100-basis point cut of the interest rate to 13 percent.