Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) revised the outlook for Türkiye from “negative” to “stable” and affirmed its credit rating at B.
The report stated that the stable outlook reflects “balanced risks” regarding Türkiye’s creditworthiness, primarily attributed to the return to orthodox monetary policy measures, including interest rate hikes by the Central Bank.
The agency highlighted the Central Bank’s efforts to disinflate and de-dollarize the economy under new leadership. Since June, the key one-week repo rate has been raised by 21.5 percentage points, reaching 30 percent. Additionally, the Treasury has introduced indirect taxes to counter fiscal deterioration.
Looking ahead, the agency expressed confidence that by 2026, barring any renewed political uncertainty, the new team can rebalance Türkiye’s economy.
Furthermore, the agency forecasted a deceleration in Türkiye’s GDP growth to 3.5 percent, followed by a further weakening to 2.3 percent in 2024.
Read more: Türkiye’s economy to slow to 2 percent from H1’s 3.8 percent growth
Soaring inflation
Yesterday, the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) has released the retail and wholesale price indices for September in the megacity.
According to ITO’s calculations, retail prices experienced a significant increase of 5.46 percent compared to the previous month, resulting in an annual rise of 73.18 percent.
Wholesale prices in the city also saw a notable jump of 3.94 percent from August, leading to an annual rise of 67.79 percent, as reported by the ITO.
Among the different sectors, clothing expenditures witnessed the highest monthly increase in retail prices at 14.50 percent, followed by the culture, education, and entertainment sector with 7.38 percent.
In terms of wholesale prices, the construction materials sector saw the greatest monthly rise at 7.28 percent.
These indices serve as important indicators of nationwide inflation for economists.
The government-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported an annual inflation rate of 58.94 percent in August, while the independent inflation group ENAG estimated the figure to be 128.05 percent.
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