(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Turkish Central Bank was in a hurry to revise its inflation forecast, Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said Monday.
The Central Bank in its report on April 30 announced a revision to its year end inflation forecast to 6.8 percent from 5.5 percent.
"The Turkish economy is not in a position to require deviation from its 5.5 percent inflation target. Revising the inflation target to 6.8 percent from 5.5 percent without seeing the results in third and fourth quarters is precipitate," Zeybekci told The Anadolu Agency after a meeting in Denizli.
The minister's comments came after the Turkish Consumer Price Index rose 1.63 percent from the preceding month, pushing the annual rate of inflation to 7.91 percent, according to a statement from Turkish Statistical Institute on Monday.
"Hopefully, Turkey will see inflation at 5.5 percent, its current account deficit at 4 percent and its growth rate at 4 percent or slightly above 4 percent at the end of 2015," Zeybekci said. "I believe this because currently I can foresee the economy's evolution in the next three quarters."
Inflation figures are closely watched in Turkey as Central Bank officials have said they would maintain a tight monetary policy until there are clear signs of improvement in the inflation outlook.
The food and nonalcoholic beverages, index rose by 14.36 percent year-on-year. Food has been named as the chief driver of Turkish inflation by the Central Bank.
On April 29, Zeybekci said that Turkey hopes to see this year's inflation below 6 percent. "If the variables remain constant, we hope to see 2015 inflation below 6 percent," Zeybekci said.
Zeybekci said that he expected food inflation to slow this year and that might offset the negative effect of the decline of the Turkish lira against the U.S. dollar.
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