Turkey’s inflation slowed slightly more than expected in July, but the war in Iran and the resulting turmoil in energy markets are likely to push the central bank towards a cautious stance, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Annual consumer price growth eased for a second straight month to 31.8 per cent, down from 32.1 per cent in June, according to the state statistics agency TurkStat.

That was just below the 31.9 per cent forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

On a monthly basis, however, inflation accelerated to 1.78 per cent from 1 per cent in the previous month, pointing to renewed price pressure.

The lira was little changed after the data were released, trading at 47.54 against the US dollar.