Inflation in Turkey exceeded 83%

Turkey's inflation jumped to a new 24-year high of more than 83% in September after the central bank cut interest rates despite a sharp rise in prices, official data showed.

Turkey's monetary policymakers are bucking a global trend for central banks to raise interest rates as part of a fight against inflation, as high lending rates cool the economy and prices.

But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is focusing on growth ahead of parliamentary elections in June, has repeatedly spoken out against higher interest rates, calling them "his biggest enemy".

The country's central bank followed his philosophy, cutting its key interest rate from 13% to 12% last month.

Erdogan has called for another rate cut at the bank's next meeting on October 20.

State statistics agency TUIK reported that consumer prices rose 83.45 percent year-on-year in September, compared with 80.2 percent in August.

Following the announcement, the Turkish lira hit a new record low of 18.56 against the dollar.

But opposition leaders and many Turks no longer trust official government figures.

An authoritative monthly survey published by independent economists at Turkey's ENAG research institute also showed prices rising - at a much higher rate than that reported by the state statistics institute.

According to ENAG, the official annual rate of increase in consumer prices reached 186.27% in September, compared to 181.37% in August.

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