Turkey's annual inflation surged to 14.03% in November as the lira weakened, its highest since August 2019 and well above a 12.6% forecast, keeping up pressure for tight monetary policy after last month's rate hike.
Ankara replaced its central bank governor in November as part of a promised policy overhaul, and the bank signaled it will more aggressively target inflation while Turkey grapples with fallout from a resurgence in coronavirus cases.
Finance Minister Lutfi Elvan said after Thursday's inflation data that authorities will use fiscal and monetary policy tools in harmony to ensure price stability, Reuters reported.
"We are working with all our power to minimize the impact of high inflation on our citizens," he said on Twitter.
Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 2.30% in November, the Turkish Statistical Institute said, compared with a Reuters poll forecast of 1.0%. In October, annual inflation was 11.89%.
The Turkish lira's 30% fall this year to record lows last month has made the country's hard-currency imports more expensive.
The central bank targets 3% to 7% inflation but overshot it by far more than emerging-market peers this year.
The lira weakened as far as 7.9195 to the dollar after the inflation data, but rebounded after Elvan's comments.
It stood at 7.8450 at 0948 GMT, firmer than Wednesday's close. The currency has hit a series of record lows and touched 8.58 in early November before rallying on Ankara's promises of a new economic model. It remains down nearly 25% this year.
The surprise inflation jump was driven by food and non-alcoholic drinks, which surged 21.08%, straining household budgets as pandemic fallout leaves more out of work.
Miscellaneous goods and services prices jumped 29.42%. Inflation had been near 12% since the beginning of the year, despite an economic downturn in the second quarter caused by measures to combat the initial coronavirus spread.
The new central bank governor, Naci Agbal, raised the key rate by 475 basis points to 15% at his first policy meeting last month, and may face pressure to tighten again on Dec. 24.
"This raises the risk that the central bank is forced to implement further rate hikes," said Jason Tuvey, senior EM economist at Capital Economics, of the rise in inflation.
Turkey's emerging-market peers all eased monetary policy on net this year, according to TD Securities.
"The currency's recent appreciation may have a bit more to run over the coming months, which will help to limit any further rise in inflation," Tuvey said.
The producer price index rose 4.08% month-on-month in November for an annual rise of 23.11%, the data showed.