Inflation

The European Central Bank sees early signs of stabilization in the global economy and inflation remaining at the same levels over the next 12 months in the eurozone, the ECB vice president said on Monday, but he cautioned that the coronavirus outbreak in China is creating uncertainty.

Turkey's annual inflation rate was recorded at 12.15 percent in January, increasing from 11.84 percent in December 2019, Turkey's statistical authority said on Feb. 3.

The annual inflation rose 0.31 percentage points month-on-month in January, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Axia Research considers it very possible that Greece will secure the coveted investment grade as early as this year, likely toward the end of 2020, as the political risk has been minimized and positive catalysts are expected in the economy.

Average interest rates on deposits in the Turkish banking industry have been falling since the second half of 2019 and hit 9.6 percent, which marked a three-year low, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The country's Central Bank delivered a significant 1,275 basis point cut since July 2019, slashing its benchmark one week-repo rate from 24 percent to 11.15 percent.

Turkey is expected to post an economic growth figure for the past year, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak forecast yesterday.

"We will end 2019 with a historic soft landing in terms of gross domestic product," Albayrak said at a meeting with journalists in Istanbul, adding that inflation will keep being a major indicator for 2020.

The Central Bank of Turkey (CBRT) on Jan. 16 cut its one-week repo rate by 75 basis points.

The bank's policy rate, also known as one-week repo auction rate, has been revised to 11.25 percent, down from 12 percent,  according to a written statement.

The bank scheduled 12 committee meetings for 2020.

The consumer price index in December 2019 compared to November 2019 was 100.7%, i.e. the monthly inflation was 0.7%. The annual inflation in December 2019 compared to December 2018 was 3.8%, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a press release.
The annual average inflation for January - December 2019 compared to the previous 12 months (January - December 2018) was 3.1%.

The annual inflation rate went up 4 percent in December 2019, from 3.8 percent in November, given that food prices increased by 5.08 percent and non-food prices by 3.31 percent, while the price of services registered an advance of 4.16 percent, according to data released on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). "In December 2019, consumer prices were 4.0 percent higher YoY.

Greece's annual EU-harmonised inflation rate accelerated in December, statistics service ELSTAT data showed on Monday.
The reading was 1.1 percent from 0.5 percent in November. The data also showed that headline consumer price inflation picked up to 0.8 percent from 0.2 percent in the previous month.

The Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) decided in Wednesday's meeting to maintain the monetary policy interest rate at 2.5 percent per year, according to a statement sent to AGERPRES.