Minimum wage hike to happen once in 2024 in Turkey, says Erdoğan

Duvar English

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Dec. 1 stated that they will hike the minimum wage once in 2024 despite the last two years’ practice.

Answering the questions of the journalists on his return from the United Arab Emirates, Erdoğan said, “As you already know, the minimum wage increase is made once a year. We have never subjected our citizens to inflation and we will not do so,” and added that they will increase it once at the beginning of the year.

“Our economic management has also taken steps to rein in inflation. The signs are positive, we will soon see inflation reined in permanently. We will make the inflation problem a thing of the past,” Erdoğan argued. 

Lastly in July 2023, the minimum wage was raised by 34 percent, from 8,500 liras to 11,402 liras ($394).

Erdoğan's previous support for low interest rates despite surging prices brought on a currency crisis in late 2021 and pushed inflation above 85 percent last year according to official figures. 

In past years, Erdoğan has repeatedly slammed tight monetary policy, describing himself as an enemy of interest rates, but he has recently said tight policy will help bring down inflation.

He chose former Wall Street banker Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank chief after his May re-election. She has led a policy U-turn to relieve an economy strained by depleted FX reserves and surging inflation expectations.

The lira weakened again this summer as the new economic team under Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek eased the state's grip on foreign exchange markets and moved away from unorthodox policies and regulations.

The government-run Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported an annual inflation rate of 61.36 percent in October, whereas the independent inflation group ENAG put the figure at 126.18 percent.

Millions of Turks cannot make ends meet due to soaring cost of living and unabated inflation.