Turkish Consumer Prices Up 10 Percent On Year, Below Target

ANKARA, Sept 3 (AFP) - Turkish consumer prices increased 0.58 percent in August from the previous month and 10.04 percent over a year, the state statistics institute announced Friday.
It was was the sixth month in a row that consumer price inflation dipped below the government`s year-end target of 12 percent, set as part of a tight program of economic recovery watched by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Wholesale prices meanwhile decreased by 0.79 percent in August from July, recording an increase of 10.52 percent from August last year.
Cutting the country`s chronic inflation is a key element of a 16-billion-dollar stand-by deal that Turkey signed with the IMF after a severe financial crisis in 2001.
In 2003, the government beat its inflation target of 20 percent, posting a rate of 18.4 percent.
Ankara is planning to cut inflation down to single digits in 2005.