Inflation in Turkey, made a footing for 2022 at 36%, recording a jump in official announcements, from the previously announced 21%.
Today’s announcement comes to confirm several who said that Turkey’s inflation is far above from what the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan states.
And as if that were not enough, the Turkish president, at the beginning of the new year, “attacked” again tobacco and alcohol. Increased excise duty (VTV) on alcohol, cigarettes and other tobacco products by 47% on January 3rd, according to Turkish media reports.
Companies will decide how much of this increase will be reflected in consumers.
The excise duty on other goods has not yet been issued.
Alcoholic beverages and tobacco make up 4.88% of the inflation basket. Cigarettes make up 4.57% of this ingredient.
Speaking to Turkish media, tax expert Ozan Bingιόl said the 6 326.99 excise tax on a liter of raki had risen to 16 616 with the latest move. He said that “this is no longer a tool of political taxation” and that it has become a “lifestyle intervention” of the people, according to the Kronos 34 website.
On January 3rd, the Turkish State Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported an annual inflation rate of 36.1% in December, the highest in two decades, while the independent inflation group ENAG reported a rate of 82.8%.
A few days earlier, the Turkish pound, closed in 2021, at its worst, since Recep Tayyip Erdogan took over the helm of the country.
Rage for price increases
For households, the collapse of the currency translates into growing bills, as the country is heavily dependent on imports of raw materials and energy. According to official statistics, flour and chicken increased by 86% in one year, sunflower oil by 76% and bread by 54%.
In this potentially explosive political context, President Erdogan raised the minimum wage from 2. 2,825.90 to 4. 4,253.40 (about € 275) on January 1, a 50% increase that has already been partially blown away by inflation. “I’m afraid all the wage increases will disappear in two months,” Gizem Eztok Altinsaj, chief economist at the federation of employers’ organizations Tüsiad, said on Twitter.
“Inflation rates horrible for Turkey in December (…) The result of disastrous economic policies,” said economist Timothy As, a Turkey expert at BlueBay Asset Management, for which the country is now faced with a “spiral of inflation / devaluation” like those recorded in Argentina and Venezuela.
“Bread prices increased by 150%”
Expressing concern that the prices of all basic necessities, including electricity and gas, rose by more than 100% on the last day of 2021, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) MP Sarouhan Oluch, speaking today in the Grand National Assembly stressed that “we are facing a serious picture”:
“While such high price increases are taking place, TurkStat is talking about 36%. This is of course not true, as you know. TurkStat reports that transport prices have risen by 53.66%, food and non-alcoholic beverage prices have risen by 43% and furniture prices increased by 40% in December compared to last December, but annual inflation is 36%. Do you know what it turns out when we see changes in bread prices? The price of flour increased by 162%, the price of sugar increased by 95%, milk by 25%, beans by 100%, legumes by 140%, detergents by 150% and price of toilet paper by 128% All these are annual increases.
“The increase in the minimum wage has melted away even before workers received it,” Oluts said.
Referring to the year 2018, he said: “Since 2018, when the rule of one began, the prices of electricity have increased by 400% and the prices of gas have increased by 147%. The latest price increases are not included in this. Electricity “Gas has become a luxury consumption. The problem with interest rates is the cause and inflation is the result. The cost of a one-man presidency has translated into hunger, poverty and injustice.”
Petros Kranias
Read also:
* Expectations for the Turkish economy in 2022: Does Erdogan have an inflation plan?
* Turkish Finance Minister announces slow drop in inflation until 2023
* New losses for the pound: Concerns grow, enthusiasm for Erdogan’s announcements drops
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Source From: Capital
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