ANKARA: Turkish inflation jumped more than expected in April, data showed on Monday, as rising clothing prices eclipsed a moderate increase in food prices, which usually drives inflation.
The surprising increase in inflation may encourage the central bank to resist political pressure for aggressive rate cuts before June's elections.
"The worst news is that despite a modest increase at 1.6 percent in food prices, the clothes and shoes prices rose 12 percent on seasonal reasons," said Gizem Oztok Altinsac, chief economist at Garanti Securities.
The cost of clothing increased as warmer weather led shoppers to step up their purchases of apparel and shoes.
Consumer prices rose 1.63 percent month-on-month in April, the data from the Turkish Statistics Institute showed, well above the 1.43 percent increase forecast in a Reuters poll.
Prices rose 7.91 percent year-on-year. Domestic producer prices rose 1.43 percent on the month, for an annual rise of 4.80 percent, the data showed.
The Central Bank increased its CPI forecast for 2015 to 6.8 percent from the previous 5.5 percent. The Turkish lira traded at 2.7143 against the dollar by 0740 GMT, weaker than 2.6660 late on Thursday.
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