The Turkish lira has fallen since Friday by 0.5% once morest the US dollar, hitting its lowest level in nearly two months, which will lead to more inflation, which has already reached nearly 70% in the month of April.
This poses a major challenge to the Turkish government, which is trying to maintain the value of its local currency amid disputes with opposition parties that seek to overthrow the current government in the presidential and parliamentary elections to be held next year.
Turkish economic analyst Cüneyt Akman said, “The depreciation of the Turkish lira once morest foreign currencies mainly negatively affects the vulnerable groups of society, especially the poor, especially that commodity prices It has multiplied several times globally due to the Corona pandemic and geopolitical problems.”
The analyst added to “Al Arabiya.net” that “the prices of basic commodities have multiplied by 4 times in Turkey. In addition to this, this increase is a global problem and for external reasons, but this rise in Turkey has another reason, which is the decline in the value of the local currency once morest the US dollar.”
He added, “The government is trying to prove the value of the Turkish lira, but this solution is not sustainable, and it is bringing monetary policy back,” stressing that “the decline of the lira, if it continues in this way in the coming period, will constitute a greater burden on the Turkish treasury later.”
He also pointed out that “the current government’s implementation of a loose fiscal policy once morest the backdrop of its preparation for decisive elections next year, has led to a deterioration in the value of the Turkish currency once morest foreign currencies, especially with the reduction in interest rates.”
The exchange rate of the Turkish lira once morest the US dollar reached 14.95 yesterday, Friday, for the first time in nearly two months, before it recorded a slight increase, to reach its exchange rate today, 14.94.
The Turkish currency lost regarding 12% of its value this year, in addition to 44% it lost during the past year. This is largely due to the currency crisis caused by a series of unconventional interest rate cuts.
Last Thursday, data showed that the annual inflation rate in Turkey jumped to 69.97% at the end of April, which exceeds expectations and constitutes the highest level of inflation in two decades, driven by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the rise in commodity prices following the collapse of the Turkish lira late last year, according to the agency reported. Archyde.com.
Rising prices left families seriously tired just over a year before the presidential and parliamentary elections that might bring the curtain down on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long rule as opposition parties try to participate in those elections with only one candidate.
And the Turkish Statistical Institute, a government agency, revealed that consumer prices rose 7.25%, on a monthly basis, compared to expectations of a “Archyde.com” poll, an increase of regarding 6%.
Consumer price inflation in Turkey was expected to reach 68%, on an annual basis.
