Ankara, Feb 4 (IANS): Turkey's annual inflation surged to a 20-year high of 48.69 per cent in January, the country's Statistical Institute announced.

The country's consumer prices raised by 11.1 per cent month on month in January, according to the data.

In January, the highest annual price increase was in transport with 68.89 per cent, followed by food and non-alcoholic beverage with 55.61 per cent, and furnishings and household equipment with 54.53 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, the producer price index increased by 10.45 per cent on a monthly basis, with an annual rise of 93.53 per cent.

Turkey's annual inflation rate was 36.1 per cent in December 2021.

January's inflation rate was the highest since April 2002 and has put further strains on Turkey's economy which was already hit by last year's currency turmoil.

The Turkish lira has lost roughly 60 per cent of its value in 2021.

The currency crash drove prices of essential goods, food, and utilities much higher, thus bringing down the living standards of households.

To address some of the concerns, the Turkish government has increased the 2022 minimum wage for millions of workers by a whopping 50 per cent.

On Monday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the country will have to carry the burden of inflation for some time.

He noted that the government did not put all the burden of the rise in energy costs on the citizens by raising minimum wages and civil servants' salaries and pensions.

"We have entered a period where the outlook will improve in the months ahead," the Turkish leader said.

Erdogan is an advocate of low interest rates, insisting that the move will lift the burden on investments despite the rising inflation.

Turkey's central bank kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged in January, halting an easing cycle that sparked a currency slump in the latter half of 2021.