Maybe after the Eid…
It is clear that the Government’s economic team harbours a delusion that “inflation is declining” because the current inflation rate seems to be more stable than last year’s, which has been high because the Central Bank has failed to hike interest rates in a timely manner. In fact, the only thing that the Government does to fight inflation is to prevent loan rates from rising and implement restrictions on borrowing loans. On the other hand, government deficit has been growing since last year as the Government continues to increase the tax rates. The Central Bank’s recent open letter to the Government would have been worth analysing if the circumstances were different. However, I should indicate that the content of the letter does not exactly demonstrate the reality. Such texts are supposed to have a scientific nature; therefore, they should be written with the purpose of mirroring the reality rather than being used by their author as a means to prove their own opinions .
The measures taken so far have caused the official inflation rate to decrease monthly, but the cost of living to remain high. If the method to fight inflation had been truly inclusive, there would not be much objection to it. However, since the new economic team took office, annual inflation has been increasing constantly and the public perception of inflation has been deteriorating.
So far, no one has been chosen as a scapegoat to blame for the election result. Voters expect government officials who have constantly given negative messages or who have pretended to work too much, yet have done nothing, as well as the makers of the failed economic policies to pay for the outcome of the election. Any attempt to amend or change the Constitution before the public’s expectations are fulfilled would draw serious backlash from the society. According to market rumours, the economic team might soon be asked to leave their posts but this will not happen probably before the end of autumn. Besides, the economic team being left intact while new people are appointed to other key posts would cause another public backlash.
I hope that, after the holiday the Government will be more willing to listen to the public’s thoughts and expectations and takes steps accordingly. Because Turkey deserves to ascend to a more developed state nourished by peace and free market economy.
