The politicians of Turkey recently advised citizens to eat only 500 grams per month instead of two kilos of meat and not to eat vegetables out of season anyway. Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez recommended turning the heating down to save money.
The fall in the lira is now leading to restrictions for two reasons: Unstable prices are poison for companies like Apple, because they would have to adjust their prices every day and immediately remove the money they collect in order to avoid losses. But because such expensive purchases are rarely paid for immediately and in full, it is safer for them to suspend trading. Real estate trading in the country has also recently collapsed for this reason.
President Erdogan, however, is continuing on his way undeterred. He last called it an “economic war of independence”. In reality, however, it is primarily his policy that has led to the current situation. For Erdogan there is a direct connection between the level of key interest rates and the inflation rate in his country. If interest rates are higher, inflation also increases, explains “Focus Online”.
The problem: the longer Erdogan continues on his course, the more difficult it will be to turn the trend. After all, the lira hole is getting deeper with each passing day. Without a recession, it is unlikely to go up again. At worst, the drama could continue until the general election in 2023.
As a “sick man on the Bosporus”, the weakened Ottoman Empire, from which Turkey was to emerge later, was satirized by many media of the time in the 19th and into the 20th century.
