Erdoğan downplays unstoppable inflation, says 'every dark cloud has a silver lining'

Duvar English

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has commented on the inflation going to record highs by saying that "every dark cloud has a silver lining." 

“The biggest problem we are currently going through is the cost of living we are experiencing in the economy. Some unexpected developments have lengthened the resulting period of the programs that we have implemented. We have already left behind all of those issues. And we are going on our own way by saying that as is the case for everything, this dark cloud has also a silver lining,” Erdoğan said on Aug. 30.

Erdoğan made the remarks as he attended the graduation ceremony of the Turkish Military Academy in the capital Ankara.

“Hopefully, as of New Year, we will start to get the concrete results of our targets. In the meantime, we are running all of the works with determination to utilize the opportunity that the regional and global developments bring in front of us,” Erdoğan said.

Earlier this month, the government-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported an annual inflation rate of 79.60 percent, the highest since 1998, whereas the independent inflation group ENAG put the figure at 176.04 percent.