Official: Turkey 2014 Inflation Ticks Up to 8.17%

Annual inflation in Turkey ticked up to 8.17 percent in 2014, slightly higher than 2013 and well over the central bank's medium-term target, the state statistics office said Monday.

However the figure was lower than expected by analysts, with inflation falling 0.44 percent in December from November.

The central bank had also forecast at the end of October annual inflation of 8.9 percent in 2014 while the government had predicted 9.4 percent

Inflation in Turkey however remains well above the central bank's medium term target of five percent. Inflation in 2013 was 7.49 percent.

"The sharp fall in Turkish inflation last month was an encouraging development, but core inflation remained extremely high," said the London-based Capital Economics consultancy in a research note.

"This is likely to prevent the central bank from lowering interest rates any time soon," it added.

The central bank has so far defied pressure from the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for aggressive interest rate cuts to stimulate economic growth, citing the need to keep a watchful eye on inflation.

Turkey's economic performance is set to come under the spotlight in 2015 with the country holding the presidency of the G20 group of the world's top economies.