TURKEY’S annual inflation rate rose to a two-year high in April, raising questions over whether the central bank will bow to government pressure to deliver a widely expected rate cut later this month, the Hurriyet has reported.

Monday data showed the consumer price index rising at a faster-than-expected 9.38% in April from a year earlier, rising from 8.39% in March. Driven by surging food costs, the news sent prices closer to a psychologically important double-digit 10% rate.

The rise comes just days after central bank governor Erdem Basci unexpectedly said declining risk and an improving inflation outlook meant he had “room to cut rates.”

That shift came less than one month after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the bank to immediately cut rates in an apparent bid to boost economic growth ahead of presidential elections in August.

But now, the faster-than-expected price rises are casting doubt on the likelihood of a May cut.

“Following today’s disappointing April reading, we now see a rate cut in May as unlikely,” said Gizem Oztok Altinsac, chief economist at Garanti Securities in Istanbul. “Unfortunately, for Erdogan, jawboning does not bring down inflation.”

“Despite growing political pressure, we still think that inflation remains too high for the central bank to cut rates,” said Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. currency strategist led by Marc Chandler in New York.

Economists last week said a rate cut would be premature as inflation was proving stubbornly high.

Mr. Basci’s signal that he would loosen policy also came as he raised his year-end inflation forecast to 7.6% from 6.6%, sparking fresh concerns that the move would be a response to government pressure.