School start, Ramadan spur inflation
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The start of the school year and the holy month of Ramadan are expected to push Turkey’s September consumer inflation up to a monthly 1.12 percent, a Reuters poll of economists showed yesterday. September’s inflation will be watched particularly closely after the central bank surprised markets earlier this month with an earlier-than-expected 25 basis point rate cut. The median forecast from a poll of 20 institutions compares with a rate of 0.02 percent in August which made for an annual rate of 7.39 percent. The producer price index, which rose 0.85 percent in August for a yearly rate of 3.72 percent, was seen rising 0.55 percent in September, the poll showed. «Again this year we expect a rise of more than 1 percent because of seasonal factors,» said HSBC economist Esra Erisir, noting the dual impacts of purchases for the new school year and of the fasting and feasting month of Ramadan, when food prices tend to rise.
