Iran Press/ Asia: In December alone, consumer prices took a rare step into double-digits, rising 13.58%, Turkish Statistical Institute data showed on Monday, eating deeper into the earnings and savings of Turks rattled by the economic turmoil.
The year-over-year CPI outstripped a median Reuters poll forecast of 30.6% with staples such as transportation and food - which took increasing shares of households' budgets during 2021 - rising even faster.
Turkey's lira shed 44% of its value last year as the central bank slashed interest rates under a drive by Erdogan to prioritize credit and exports over currency and price stability.
On Monday the currency whipsawed down 5% then up 3%. It stood at 13.0790 versus the dollar at 1734 GMT, some 0.8% firmer than Friday's close.
Some economists predict inflation could reach as high as 50% by spring unless the direction of monetary policy is reversed. Goldman Sachs said it would remain above 40% for most of the year ahead.
Turkey now has the eighth-highest inflation in the world, according to a Trading Economics listing.
Last year was the worst for the lira in nearly two decades, while the annual CPI was the highest since the 37.0% reading of September of 2002, two months before Erdogan's AK Party first took office.
Erdogan overhauled the central bank's leadership last year. The bank has slashed the policy rate to 14% from 19% since September, leaving Turkey with deeply negative real yields that have spooked savers and investors.
The subsequent accelerating surge in prices and drop in the lira have also upended household and company budgets, scuttled travel plans, and left many Turks scrambling to cut costs. Many queued last month for subsidized bread in Istanbul, where the municipality says the cost of living is up 50% in a year.
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