Turkey inflation below the expected level

Turkey’s inflation fell slightly below expected levels in March, boosted by higher prices for food and hospitality services.

The Financial Times reports that Turkey’s annual consumer price inflation in March was 50.51 percent, while economists polled by Reuters predicted it would be 51.33 percent.

Prices in the hospitality sector have grown rapidly, with hotels, cafes, and restaurants recording annual inflation of 70.73 percent, according to recently published data from the State Statistics Office. Inflation in the sector of prices of food and soft drinks amounted to 67.89 percent.

Last month, Turkey’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate the same after cutting it by 8.5 percent in February to support the economy after the devastating earthquakes.

Damage from the earthquake in Turkey exceeds 100 billion dollars

The material damage generated by the earthquake in Turkey alone surpasses 100 billion dollars, as stated by a preliminary assessment by the World Bank, the UN, the European Union, and the government in Ankara.

A month after the earthquake that destroyed more than 46,000 people in Turkey, it is already obvious that the material damage alone will be more than 100 billion dollars, said Louise Winton, head of the UN Development Program in Turkey, Beta wrote.

At a UN video conference in Geneva from Gaziantep, Turkey, she stated that the expenses of reconstruction and everything that goes with a more useful and ecological reconstruction would exceed that amount.

Estimates are still based on preliminary data, but Winton stated that the $100 billion damage figure would be given at the Brussels March 16 Reconstruction Donors Conference.