The median estimate of 10 economists recently predicted that this year the inflation rate of Turkey will reach 10.4 percent, up from 9.7 percent in April. The main reason for high inflation remain record-high food and energy prices which put pressure on the Central Bank to continue rate hikes despite a sharp slowdown in economic growth, Zaman reported. The Central Bank, which raised its benchmark interest rate last month for the first time since 2006, said it is ready to continue raising rates in a “measured” way to counter the risk of rising inflation caused by high oil and food prices. “The chances of higher inflation in the short term are increasing because of uncertainty in the global economy, and because of energy prices,’’ the Central Bank said.