Türkiye’s industrial production jumped in March from a previous month marked by devastating earthquakes that razed the country’s southeastern region, official data showed Wednesday.

Industrial activity bounced back strongly after the initial coronavirus wave in April 2020 and expanded for over two years. The industrial production index dropped 8.2% in February after the quakes killed more than 50,000 people, toppled hundreds of thousands of buildings and severely damaged the southeastern region's infrastructure.

The output climbed 5.5% month-over-month on a seasonal and calendar-adjusted basis in March, the Turkish Statistical Insitute (TurkStat) said Wednesday.

Output edged down 0.1% year-over-year, TurkStat noted, much lower than expected as the impact of tremors impacted the manufacturing sector.

Annual growth has slowed since the summer, with demand declining due to the wider global slowdown, especially in Türkiye's main trading partners.

The median estimate in the Reuters poll of six institutions forecasted a year-over-year contraction of 1.45% in March.

Forecasts ranged between a contraction of 4% and an expansion of 1.3%

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government have pursued economic policies favoring lower interest rates, which they say they would continue to follow if they win the presidential and parliamentary elections slated for May 14.

The model, dubbed the "Türkiye Economy Model" and unveiled in 2021, prioritizes lower borrowing costs to boost exports, production and investment and creates new jobs.

Last year, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) cut its key one-week repo rate by 500 basis points to counter an economic slowdown and held it at 9% in December and January. It justified the cuts by saying financial conditions must remain supportive to maintain the growth in industrial production.

It further cut the benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 8.5% after the Feb. 6 quakes to support the recovery of the real sector and said last month that the recovery in the region has been stronger than expected. It left the key policy unchanged in March and April.

Erdoğan has repeatedly said interest rates would continue to fall as long as he is in power.