Sharjah24 – AFP: Turkey's annual inflation rate in January reached its highest level since April 2002, official data showed Thursday, after a currency crisis decimated people's purchasing power.

Consumer prices surged by a stronger-than-expected 48.7 percent from the same period in January last year, up from an annual rate of 36.1 percent in December, according to the Turkish statistics agency.

Independent data collected by Turkish economists suggested that the annual rate of inflation rose to more than 110 percent in January.

Erdogan staunchly opposes raising interest rates, which he believes cause inflation -- the exact opposition of conventional economic thinking.

Turkey has suffered from persistently high inflation for years, experiencing two currency crises since 2018.

This prompted Turks to stock up on gold and foreign currency, resulting in a currency crash that saw the lira lose 44 percent of its value against the dollar in 2021.