Turkey’s statistical office faces new transparency checks as it has stopped publishing some details on how inflation data are calculated, reinforcing opposition claims that it did not fully reflect price hikes in May, which were high. 24 years old.
TurkStat announced a week before the release of the latest inflation data on June 3 that it would make changes to align with EU procedures and increase “transparency and accessibility”.
May data showed monthly inflation close to 3%, while all but two economists forecast a higher rate.
The statistical service in its announcement did not include the usual price increase charts for individual items in the inflation basket.
The reaction of the opposition was immediate. “On a day like this, Turkstat hid the basket of individual items and the average price of the items announced since 2003,” said Republican People’s Party spokesman Faik Oztrak.
In response to the criticism, TurkStat Vice President Νbrahim Demir told the state-run Anadolu news agency that 17 developed or EU countries do not publish price changes on individual items.
Demir, however, stressed that Turkey will continue to publish a detailed analysis of consumer goods in line with bond practice.
The statistics office told Bloomberg that the move was aimed at harmonizing the transparency of its data with the EU statistical office, dividing the distribution of individual consumption in households into a five-digit structure in contrast to the previous four-digit index.
He did not say why he removed the price increase for an indicative list of goods previously included in the monthly inflation reports.
The statistical service had already caught the attention, as two leading statisticians working on inflation data left within a month, with one citing health reasons.
Source: Capital
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