Turkey’s inflation slowed for the second month in December after the economy entered a period of negative growth.

The annual consumer price inflation rate dropped to 20.3 percent from 21.6 percent in November, the Turkish Statistical Institute said on Thursday. Producer price inflation eased to 33.6 percent from 38.5 percent due to a slump in demand for goods and falling energy prices.

The fall in CPI was led by a decline in transportation costs and clothing prices.

Turkish inflation is slowing from a 15-year high of 25.2 percent in October after the government slashed taxes and the lira recovered from a currency crisis caused by concern about economic overheating and a political spat with the United States. The economy contracted by a quarterly 1.1 percent in the three months to September.

Monthly CPI dropped by 0.4 percent as fuel prices fell, the data showed. Monthly producer price inflation slid by 2.2 percent, led by an 8.5 percent decline in the price of electricity and gas.

The government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is battling to lower inflation and reverse an economic slowdown ahead of local elections at the end of March. The approaching polls are raising concern among investors that the central bank will cut interest rates under political pressure, possibly leading to more economic instability.

The lira fell 0.8 percent to 5.43 per dollar at 11:46 a.m. in Istanbul, taking losses this week to more than 3 percent.