Official figures show that Turkey's inflation rate eased for the second consecutive month in December.
This was helped by tax cuts and discounted prices on consumer goods, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The Turkish Statistical Institute said Thursday that consumer prices in the year to December stood at 20.3 percent — 0.40 percent down from November.
Turkey's inflation had hit a 15-year high rate of 25.2 percent in October, before easing to 21.6 percent in November.
Thousands of Turks protested in Istanbul,Turkey’s biggest city, last month against crippling inflation as the economy struggled following a currency crisis in August.
Turkish Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said the fight against inflation will continue through the first three months of 2019, and include cuts on a special consumption tax and value added tax, AFP reported.
The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) head Rifat Hisarciklioglu urged the private and public sectors to cooperate in the battle against rising prices.
"Neither the public nor the private sector can do this alone. The responsiblity and duty is all of ours," he said Wednesday.
Retail prices in Istanbul rose by 13.68 percent in 2018 and wholesale prices increased by 17.79 percent, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) said on Monday.
Retail prices dropped by 0.14 percent month-on-month in December, while wholesale prices in Istanbul, home to about a fifth of Turkey’s population of 81 million, increased by 0.58 percent month-on-month, ITO said.
