Top Turkish business group chair says households’ welfare loss ‘out of control’

Duvar English

Turkey’s inflation is very high and households’ welfare loss has spiraled out of control, Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD) chair Simone Kaslowski has said.

The war in Ukraine came at a time when Turkey was already caught in a bind as it experiences a very high inflation rate at around 55 percent and low Central Bank reserves, he said in a column for independent site Yetkin Report on March 14.

“On top of that, when we come across an external shock, it seems very difficult to turn inflation from around 60 percent,” he added.

Kaslowski stressed on the importance of Turkey’s position within the new global dynamics.

“Turkey has taken steps to overcome the problems with both the West and regional countries,” he said.

There are severe increases in the prices of all agricultural products and not just wheat and soy, he said, adding that all pay rises and a raise in the national minimum wage have melted in the face of the recent price surges.

With rising energy and oil prices, the initial cost of Russia's war on Ukraine for Turkey is around $35 billion to $40 billion, he said.

Turkey reported an annual inflation of 54.4 percent in February, its highest in two decades. The surge in consumer prices was fueled by a currency crash last year and soaring commodity prices expected to climb higher due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.