Turkey cuts price of fuel oil and gas
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey will cut the retail price of fuel oil and gasoline today amid a fall in the cost of oil purchases and the lira’s recent strength against the dollar, a treasury official said yesterday. The cost of oil products is a major determinant on the level of inflation in crisis-hit Turkey, which is working to reduce consumer prices (CPI) to 35 percent by the end of the year. The price of fuel oil will fall 7.96 percent and the retail price of petrol 3.1-3.24 percent, the official told Reuters. CPI now stands at around 33 percent after a 2001 economic crisis ripped through the country’s economy, slashing domestic demand and pummeling economic growth. Turkey fears that a possible US-led attack against neighbor Iraq will raise oil prices and hit revenues from exports and tourism key to meeting the targets of a $16 billion IMF pact. The price of oil products in Turkey is influenced by changes in the strength of the lira against the dollar.
