Turkey’s expectations for 2011 year-end inflation rose to 6.8% in the first half of March, the Central Bank of Turkey just reported.

In announcing the first edition of the March ‘Survey of Expectations’, the central bank indicated that the year-end inflation rate expectation for this year increased to 6.8%, up from the 6.6% expectation figure in the second edition of the February Survey of Expectations.

The central bank report also stated that the GDP growth rate is expected to fall to 4.9% at the end of this year, down marginally from 5% expected a month ago.

Current account deficit expectations for 2011 are $50.9bn, while it was anticipated at $49.4bn a month ago. When looking to the national currency, the February Survey stated that the US dollar was expected to increase from Turkish Lira (TL) 1.58 to TL 1.60 by the end of this month in the interbank foreign exchange market while its year-end expectation was unchanged at TL 1.59, indicating a level of stability in the TL.

The central bank also did not change its interest rate expectation, which is currently 6.25%. However, the expectation in six months time was revised upwards from 6.5% to 6.75% and in 12 months (March 2012) the expectation has increased from 7.25% to 7.4%, so UK property investors with mortgages in Turkey should consider fixing their rate now.