Kuresel Isinma, Kuresellesme ve Gida Krizi - Turkiye'de Islenmis Gida Fiyatlari Uzerine Ampirik Bir Calisma

For central banks, whose primary objective is to maintain low and sustainable inflation, understanding the determinants of food prices and their sensitivity to monetary policy is crucial for measuring the effectiveness of policy actions. This study empirically analyzes the determinants of the processed food inflation in Turkey. The findings point out that the recent acceleration in the processed food inflation mostly stems from supply side shocks triggered by domestic drought and the upsurge in the international food prices. The emergence of a steep difference between the level of temperature and the seasonal averages gives rise to an increase in the processed food inflation, whereas moderate rise in the temperatures above the seasonal averages slows down the food inflation. The study indicates that the import prices mostly affect the domestic processed food prices through the processed intermediate food products rather than consumption goods. Exchange rate pass-through to processed food prices is faster than the import price pass-through and its effect is mostly felt within the first three months of a change in the exchange rate. The effect of total demand conditions is found to be relatively weak in the sample period considered in this study.