Even pro-government media admits it... Heavy economic toll following İmamoğlu's arrest: They revealed the amount spent on interest

CHP presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu was detained on March 18 following the cancellation of the diploma he had earned 31 years ago; after giving a statement on March 19, he was arrested on March 23 and sent to Silivri Prison.

Following this operation against İmamoğlu, there was serious anxiety in the markets in Turkey. Seeking to prevent sudden spikes in foreign exchange, the government conducted foreign currency sales through the Central Bank. With this intervention, billions of liras were spent solely to curb the rise of the dollar.

The government did not settle for foreign currency sales alone to suppress the increasing demand for foreign exchange. It also returned to a high-interest rate policy, which President Erdoğan had previously opposed by citing "nas" (religious principles). The Central Bank has been raising the policy rate since March.

During this process, Necmettin Batırel, a journalist and economic columnist close to the government, shared a striking calculation in his column in the Türkiye newspaper.

"135 BILLION LIRAS WENT SOLELY TO INTEREST"

In his article titled "Don't Cast a Shadow," Batırel recalled that annual inflation, which was 38% in March, fell to 35.05% in June, yet the Central Bank raised the policy rate from 42.5% to 46% in April.

Drawing attention to the burden of high-interest practices on the economy, Batırel used the phrase, "The money spent on interest in 3 months reached 135 billion liras." This figure revealed the economic price the government, which frequently states that it is fighting against interest, has had to pay following İmamoğlu's arrest.

HE COMPARED IT WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

Comparing the interest rate applied by Turkey with other countries, Batırel wrote:

"This interest rate is 55.15 times the positive real interest offered to investors in the Eurozone and 5.34 times that of the USA. Argentina manages its economy with a -8.36% real interest rate. The policy rate is 27.75% in Egypt, 29.50% in Ghana, and 27.50% in Nigeria. The only country with a higher policy rate than Turkey is Venezuela."

NEW INTEREST RATE CUT EXPECTED

On the other hand, expectations have begun to take shape ahead of the new interest rate decision to be announced by the Central Bank this Thursday. According to Batırel, interest rates need to be lowered.

The prevailing expectation in the market is that interest rates will be cut by 250 basis points. However, some commentators state that a 300-basis-point cut is on the table. The US investment bank Goldman Sachs, with a bolder forecast, has brought a 350-basis-point cut to the agenda.

News Source: 12punto