TCMB: The most significant increase in inflation in January was in the services group

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) published its assessment of price developments in January. The report indicated that annual inflation increased in the services group while decreasing in other subgroups, and that the most significant increase in January was recorded in the services group. The TCMB report reminded that consumer prices increased by 6.65 percent in January, and annual inflation decreased by 6.59 points to 57.68 percent. It was stated that annual inflation increased in the services group while decreasing in other subgroups during this period. It was stated that the monthly price increase in the energy group was relatively moderate due to the decrease in natural gas prices. The report stated that “While monthly food inflation was 6.62 percent, the developments in bread-cereals and meat, milk and related products were the determining factors in this development. Annual inflation in the core goods group decreased in all subgroups, more significantly in other core goods. On a monthly basis, the price increase in durable consumer goods stood out.” It was stated that the most significant increase in January was recorded in the services group, and that in this development, the effects of items affected by the minimum wage and food prices, as well as service groups affected by the revaluation rate, items such as health and transportation services with seasonal pricing behavior, and groups with a strong tendency to index to past inflation were felt. It was stated that despite the decline in energy prices in January, producer prices increased as a result of price increases observed in other manufacturing industry sectors, and that “Under this outlook, the monthly increase with seasonally adjusted data strengthened in B and C indicators, while annual inflation decreased to 57.05 percent in B indicator and increased to 52.97 percent in C indicator.”