ISTANBUL, June 5 (Reuters) - Turkish annual inflation fell to 39.59% in May, official data showed on Monday, broadly in line with expectations, largely due to the government offsetting price rises in other goods by providing natural gas free of charge.
The government had pledged ahead of last month's elections that it would provide free gas in May, and a monthly free 25 cubic metres until May 2024.
The poll had forecast that annual consumer price inflation (CPI) (TRCPIY=ECI) would be 39.2%, and was expected to end the year at 45%.
Clothing and shoe prices recorded the largest monthly increase with 9.85%, followed by restaurant and hotel prices with 7.10%.
The weight of natural gas in the inflation basket is 2.9%.
Persons:
Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Liam Peach, Peach, Cevdet Yilmaz, Canan Sevgili, Daren Butler, Ali Kucukgocmen, Jonathan Spicer, William Maclean
Organizations:
Turkish Statistical Institute, Treasury, Finance, Capital Economics, Thomson
Locations:
ISTANBUL