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Türkiye Inflation Rises to 67%, Keeping Pressure on Cenbank

A full moon rises behind the Camlica mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A full moon rises behind the Camlica mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
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Türkiye Inflation Rises to 67%, Keeping Pressure on Cenbank

A full moon rises behind the Camlica mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
A full moon rises behind the Camlica mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Türkiye's annual inflation rate climbed to 67.07% in February, exceeding expectations and keeping up pressure for tight monetary policy amid strong rises in food, hotel and education prices, official data showed on Monday.
Shortly before the data, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek told local broadcaster BloombergHT that inflation would remain high in the coming months due to base effects and the delayed impact of rate hikes, but would fall in the next 12 months.
The central bank has hiked interest rates by 3,650 basis points since June, but has now paused its tightening cycle saying that the current 45% policy rate is sufficient to bring inflation down, Reuters said.
Yet some economists see a growing prospect of more tightening sometime after nationwide local elections on March 31, given the price pressure and
strong domestic demand.
"Core price pressures continue to run hot and if this continues, the possibility of a restart to the central bank's tightening cycle will only increase in the coming months," said Capital Economics senior emerging markets economist Liam Peach.
Month-on-month consumer price inflation (CPI) was 4.53%, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute, down from 6.70% in January but well above a Reuters poll forecast of 3.7%.
Annual inflation was expected to climb to 65.7% in February before falling to 42.7% by the end of 2024, the poll found.
In January, annual consumer price inflation was 64.86%.
"Inflation was high in January due to temporary effects. There could be some continuation of that in February," Simsek said. "However as of March, inflation will be back on trend. It will become in line with our disinflation path."
LIRA SLIDE
The lira has weakened 6% this year after a near-37% slide in 2023, further stoking import prices. It was slightly weaker at 31.4205 against the dollar after the data.
Though some analysts predict currency weakness after the elections - in which President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party seeks to reclaim big cities from the opposition - Simsek said authorities want neither a depreciating nor very valuable lira.
Restaurants and hotels led the price rises in February, surging 94.5%, followed by a 91.8% rise in education prices. Heavily weighted food and non-alcoholic drinks prices jumped 71.1%.
Economists have said that February inflation was also driven by the lingering impact of this year's minimum wage hike on the services sector.
Last month, the central bank maintained its 36% year-end inflation target and vowed to keep policy tight for longer to bring inflation down to the forecasted path. The Reuters poll showed annual inflation falling only to 42.7% by year end.
The domestic producer price index was up 3.74% month-on-month in February for an annual rise of 47.29%, the data showed.

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IEA Proposes Building Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline to Bypass Hormuz

A general view of oil tanks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of oil tanks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
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IEA Proposes Building Iraq-Türkiye Pipeline to Bypass Hormuz

A general view of oil tanks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
A general view of oil tanks at Türkiye's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, February 19, 2014. (Reuters)

International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol proposed building a new oil pipeline linking Iraq’s Basra oil fields and Türkiye’s Mediterranean oil terminal in Ceyhan to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, according to Turkish newspaper Hürriyet.

“I believe a Basra-Ceyhan pipeline could be extremely attractive and a very important project for both Iraq and Türkiye, as well as for regional supply security, especially from Europe’s perspective,” Birol said in an interview with the newspaper.

“I also believe the financing issue can be overcome. Now is exactly the right time.”

He said, “The vase has been broken once, and it is very difficult to fix,” referring to the Strait of Hormuz.

A new oil pipeline “is a necessity for Iraq and an opportunity for Türkiye. It is also a major opportunity for Europe in terms of supply security. I think this should be considered a strategic project,” Birol added.

The war on Iran has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic choke point through which 20% of the world’s oil supply flows, bringing global economic pain in the form of higher prices for gasoline, fertilizer and other staples.

Iraq and Türkiye share the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, a strategic corridor for transporting crude oil from northern Iraq to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, which began operation in 1976.

Iraq is seeking to rehabilitate the pipeline to overcome export problems, proposing to establish a new line from Basra to Ceyhan as a safe alternative to the Strait of Hormuz and to boost European energy security. On Sunday, Birol suggested building the new line.

Business

Taiwan Business Group Urges Beijing, Taipei to Keep Politics Out of Trade

A person looks at a stock market graph inside the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 April 2026. (EPA)
A person looks at a stock market graph inside the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 April 2026. (EPA)
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Taiwan Business Group Urges Beijing, Taipei to Keep Politics Out of Trade

A person looks at a stock market graph inside the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 April 2026. (EPA)
A person looks at a stock market graph inside the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei, Taiwan, 20 April 2026. (EPA)

The head of one of Taiwan's top business groups said on Monday both Beijing and Taipei should leave politics out of resuming normal trade and tourism exchanges, after China unveiled new incentives for the island.

China, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, announced measures this month which include easing tourism curbs and food imports, but said they had to be based on "opposing Taiwan independence".

China refuses to talk to Taiwan President Lai ‌Ching-te saying he ‌is a "separatist", and has stepped up political and economic ‌pressure ⁠in recent years, ⁠targeting tourism and imports of food, as well as holding regular war drills.

"As soon as there is an opening up, it should be as much as possible be systematic and normalized to maintain the long-term stability of business and trade exchanges," said Paul Hsu, chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce.

Flanked by representatives of the tourist and food sectors, he ⁠urged China to ensure stability in trade ties ‌rather than sudden stops and starts, in ‌comments to reporters in Taipei.

No matter which political party runs a city ‌or county, China should offer equal treatment, especially in southern Taiwan, ‌Hsu added, referring to a stronghold of Lai's Democratic Progressive Party.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China's new steps came at the end of a visit to Beijing by Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun, ‌which she described as a journey of peace, on which she met President Xi Jinping.

Taiwan's government should ⁠also "proactively face" China's offers ⁠of opening up, Hsu's group, which represents more than a million companies, said in a statement accompanying the remarks.

Group members' votes would go to whoever was good for Taiwan industry, Hsu said, adding that he was representing non-partisan industry voices.

"As long as you put forth good policies, we will offer support. But if you stand against us, I'm sorry, I can't support you. We have a vote - we are a democratic society."

Taiwan will hold key local elections in November, with the next presidential vote scheduled for early 2028.

On Sunday, Taiwan's China-policy making Mainland Affairs Council said the government would address the "reasonable demands" of industry, but warned it not to "become tools manipulated and exploited by the Chinese communists".

Business

Oil Prices and Stocks Climb as US-Iran Standoff Keeps Strait of Hormuz in Limbo

Tankers and gas carriers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP)
Tankers and gas carriers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP)
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Oil Prices and Stocks Climb as US-Iran Standoff Keeps Strait of Hormuz in Limbo

Tankers and gas carriers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP)
Tankers and gas carriers anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (AP)

Oil prices climbed more than 5% while Asian shares also advanced Monday as a standoff between Iran and the US prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz.

The Gulf waterway was closed again after Iran reversed a decision to reopen the strait and President Donald Trump said a US Navy blockade of Iranian ports remains in effect.

US benchmark crude gained 5.6% to $87.20 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, was up 5.3% at $95.16 a barrel.

Despite renewed doubts about how soon ships will again transport the vast amounts oil the world gets from the Middle East, share prices were mostly higher in Asia.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 1% to 59,045.45, while South Korea's Kospi was up 1.1% at 6,260.92.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.8% to 26,373.71 and the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.6% to 4,075.08.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was nearly unchanged at 8,943.90.

In Taiwan, the Taiex jumped 1.4%.

“The problem for markets is not the absence of hope; it is the overpricing of it,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. “The latest move higher in equities has started to feel less like conviction and more like momentum feeding on itself.”

On Friday, oil prices had dropped back to where they were in the early days of the Iran war, and US stocks raced to a fresh record after Iran said the strait was open again for commercial tankers carrying crude from the Gulf to customers worldwide.

A freer flow of oil could relieve pressure on prices for gasoline and all kinds of other products that get moved by vehicles. It could even ultimately help people pay less on credit-card interest and mortgage bills.

The S&P 500 leaped 1.2% to an all-time high of 7,126.06, closing out a third straight week of big gains, its longest streak since Halloween.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.8% to 49,447.43. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5% to 24,468.48.

The US stock market has jumped more than 12% since hitting a bottom in late March on hopes the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy despite their war.

The price for a barrel of benchmark US crude had plunged 9.4% after Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, posted on X that passage for all commercial vessels through the strait “is declared completely open” as a ceasefire appears to be holding in Lebanon.

Brent crude fell 9.1%.

After Araghchi's announcement, Trump said on his social media network that the US Navy’s blockade of Iranian ports remained “in full force” pending a deal on the war, though he also suggested that “should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.”

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the US had seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to get around a naval blockade. Iran’s joint military command said Tehran would respond soon and called the US seizure an act of piracy.

A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz raises questions over new talks to end the war.

Since the war began, market sentiment has swung between optimism and gloom over when the fighting will end and what costs the world economy will endure. A strong start to the earnings reporting season for big US companies has helped support stocks.

In other dealings early Monday, the US dollar rose to 158.90 Japanese yen from 158.79 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1757 from $1.1742.