Macroeconomics

Türkiye's annual inflation rate eased from 55.1 percent in February to 50.5 percent in March, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) have shown.

The inflation rate slowed for a fifth consecutive month from a high of 85.5 percent in October 2022.

Eurostat's provisional data on March inflation, released on Friday, showed a slowdown in the rate of price growth in Greece, but also in the eurozone as a whole.

Inflation in the eurozone slowed more sharply than expected in March but food prices jumped even as energy costs eased, official data showed on March 31.

Consumer prices rose by 6.9 percent on an annual basis, down from 8.5 percent in February, according to the European Union's statistics agency.

Failing to reflect a slight drop in the euro area, the annual inflation rate in Slovenia picked up by another 1.2 percentage points in March to reach 10.5%. The rate's increase equals the impact stemming from a 49% year-on-year increase in electricity prices as price mitigation-measures introduced a year ago were partly scrapped.

Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency slowed to the lowest level in a year as energy prices dropped, but food costs were still on the rise, keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to hike interest rates further.

Almost six out of every 10 Greek consumers state that they have been forced to eat into their savings, as the waves of price increases have shrunk their available monthly income.

Japan's consumer prices rose 3.1 percent in February from a year earlier, slowing from the four-decade highs seen in previous months, government data showed on March 24.

The figure, which excludes volatile fresh food, met market expectations and comes after the government introduced relief measures for soaring energy bills.

Türkiye's Central Bank on March 23 kept its key policy rate unchanged after lowering it in February.

The bank kept its policy rate stable at 8.5 percent after cutting it by 50 basis points in February in order to support economic activity in the aftermath of the earthquakes that hit the south of the country.

British annual inflation unexpectedly accelerated in February despite central bank efforts to tame a growing cost-of-living crisis, official data showed yesterday.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 10.4 percent in the 12 months to February 2023, up from 10.1 percent in January, the Office for National Statistics said.

U.S. central bankers face an unenviable task when they gather in Washington this week: Tackling persistent inflation without adding to financial sector turmoil after Silicon Valley Bank's rapid collapse.

The Federal Reserve has raised rates eight times since last year in the face of decades-high inflation as it looks to cool the economy without tipping it into a recession.