After the high cost of living figure announced by Istanbul Chamber of Commerce earlier this month, everyone’s gaze was fixed on the CPI data to be released by TurkStat, hence the expected increase in of civil service pay and retiree pensions.

Dear friends, I have written numerous articles about the side effects of tax policies and the foreign trade regime which has been in effect since 2014.

I know that not all of you are happy with the CBRT’s rate decision but I, personally, thought that they handled the situation quite well. First of all, those who have been hoping for a drastic rate increase in one fell swoop must be completely unaware of the reality, especially of the borrowing costs. If they are aware of it, they must have other things on their minds.

The country is waiting for several major decisions to be announced soon. The first is the CBRT's rate decision, the second is the new road map in economy, the third is the minimum wage, and the fourth is the wage hikes in the public sector.

There are several scenarios regarding a possible rate hike by the CBRT: According to some, the Central Bank will push rates up to 24%. I do not know exactly how they came up with this level, but I do not think that an increase almost three times higher than the current level would be possible.

The seating arrangement and the harmony at the Economic Coordination Board (EKK) meeting held last week showed us that the economy is completely coordinated by the President. A big difference between what was hoped for and what is actually happening.

According to recent statements from the government: - Mehmet Şimşek himself has recommended the new chair of the Central Bank. - A thorough investigation has been conducted into the new candidate and a consensus has been reached regarding the advantage of her being a woman. .

I could say that those who were encouraged by Mehmet Şimşek's words and hoped for a return to rational policies were disappointed by the "hybrid" appointments made last week. As I have repeatedly stated before, politics that match the spirit of the times will not be compatible with liberal policies or a free market economy.

I had the opportunity to chat with business people in Kayseri and Bursa last weekend, who told me that the share of labour in cost increases is no longer within the tolerable limits, so they’ve been trying to secure the same profit with fewer employees. To do that, they obviously require a certain amount of technology, which obviously requires money.

What is currently happening in the foreign exchange market tells us that the Central Bank continues to release the accumulated stress in a controlled fashion.

Maybe In history, we saw one of the rarest examples of banning technology with Trump. "Boycotting Chinese Firms" launched by the United States and its allies had generally targeted Huawei.

Apparently, the Government is determined to keep the current model despite the fact that market interest rates, exchange rates and the cost of living keep increasing.