Data Puts Turkey’s Annual Inflation at 73.5%, a 24-Year High

An angler man feeds a seagull on the Galata bridge backdropped by the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 May 2022. (EPA)
An angler man feeds a seagull on the Galata bridge backdropped by the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 May 2022. (EPA)
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Data Puts Turkey’s Annual Inflation at 73.5%, a 24-Year High

An angler man feeds a seagull on the Galata bridge backdropped by the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 May 2022. (EPA)
An angler man feeds a seagull on the Galata bridge backdropped by the Suleymaniye mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 May 2022. (EPA)

Annual inflation in Turkey hit 73.5% in May, the highest rate since 1998, according to official data released Friday as a cost-of-living crisis in the country deepens.

The Turkish Statistical Institute said the rate represented an increase of almost 70% from the month before. Consumer prices were up nearly 3% from April, the institute reported.

While many countries are seeing rising consumer prices, critics blame Turkey’s problems on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s economic policies.

The Turkish leader insists that high borrowing costs cause inflation - a position that contradicts established economic thinking - and advocates lowering interest rates to boost growth and exports.

Turkey’s central bank has cut rates by 5 percentage points since September, to 14% before pausing them in January. The Turkish lira lost 44% of its value against the US dollar last year.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to a surge in gas, oil and grain prices, has compounded the situation in import-reliant Turkey.

The sharpest increases in annual prices were in the transportation sector, at 107.6%, followed by food and non-alcoholic drinks prices at 91.6%, according to the statistical institute's data.



Indonesia, Singapore Sign Deals on Power Trade, Carbon Capture 

Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia speaks to the media during a press conference at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP) 
Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia speaks to the media during a press conference at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP) 
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Indonesia, Singapore Sign Deals on Power Trade, Carbon Capture 

Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia speaks to the media during a press conference at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP) 
Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia speaks to the media during a press conference at the presidential palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP) 

Indonesia and Singapore signed initial deals on Friday to develop cross-border trade in low carbon electricity and collaborate on carbon capture and storage, ministers from both countries said in Jakarta.

The electricity deal reaffirmed an earlier agreement to export solar power from Indonesia to Singapore, with a group of companies planning to build plants and grid infrastructure to generate and transmit the power.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries says they will aim to draw up policies, regulatory frameworks and business arrangements that will enable Indonesian power to be delivered to Singapore.

Indonesia expects to export 3.4 gigawatts of low-carbon power by 2035, according to a presentation slide shown by Indonesia's energy minister Bahlil Lahadalia.

In another MoU, the two countries said they would look into drawing up a legally binding agreement for carbon capture and storage that would allow cross-border projects to go ahead.

If successful, it will be the first such project in Asia, said Singapore government minister Tan See Leng.

Energy firms BP, ExxonMobil, and Indonesia's state company Pertamina are already developing CCS projects in Indonesia.

With its depleted oil and gas reservoirs and saline aquifers capable of storing hundreds of gigatons of CO2, Indonesia has allowed CCS operators to set aside 30% of their storage capacity for carbon captured in other countries.

The two countries also signed a deal for the development of sustainable industrial zones on several Indonesian islands near Singapore, including Batam, Bintan and Karimun.

Bahlil said the deals could bring in more than $10 billion of investment from the manufacturing of solar panels, the development of CCS projects and potential investment in industrial estates.