World-renowned economist Steve Hanke says Turkish gov't falsifying inflation data

World-renowned economist Steve Hanke has said that Turkish government institutions have been falsifying inflation data under the pressure of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He said that he estimates Turkey's annual inflation rate as being 65 percent, contrary to the official rate of a mere 21.31 percent.

Tuesday December 28 2021 11:57 pm

Duvar English

Steve Hanke, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University, has once again shared his measurement for Turkey's annual inflation, finding it as 65 percent.

Hanke said that the Turkish government was being dishonest about the country's real data, as the official annual inflation rate has been announced as a mere 21.31 percent in November.

He said that officials of the Turkish Central Bank (TCMB) are now acting as “puppets” of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, bowing to his every demand.

“Today, I accurately measure Turkey’s #inflation at 65.04%/yr. Meanwhile, Pres. Erdogan's TCMB puppets report #Turkey's official November 2021 inflation at 21.31%/yr. TCMB's number is way off the mark & is just more daily dishonesty from RTE & TCMB,” Hanke wrote on Twitter.

Today, I accurately measure Turkey’s #inflation at 65.04%/yr. Meanwhile, Pres. Erdogan's TCMB puppets report #Turkey's official November 2021 inflation at 21.31%/yr. TCMB's number is way off the mark & is just more daily dishonesty from RTE & TCMB. pic.twitter.com/A5CTOcfVkU
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) December 27, 2021

Earlier in December, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK), the government agency tasked with compiling and sharing various data, announced that the annual inflation rate hit 21.3 percent in November.

A group of independent economists known as the Inflation Research Group has made an alternative measurement, finding the annual inflation to be above 50 percent.