Minimum wage earners lost 53 dollars in 10 months

Following the elections, as the easing of control over foreign exchange markets caused the dollar to rise rapidly, the losses of the TL, which had been struggling to hold its ground for months through public intervention, deepened quickly. The dollar, which was 18.70 liras at the beginning of the year, refreshed its record by rising to the 28.75 lira level last week. The significant depreciation of the TL since Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek announced a return to rational economic policies has caused the purchasing power of low-income earners to decrease a little more each day. One of the most important indicators of the decline in citizens' purchasing power has been the erosion of the minimum wage against the dollar.

IT WAS 454.8 DOLLARS IN JANUARY

When the minimum wage was set at 8,506 liras in January, the dollar was 18.70 liras, and 454.8 dollars could be purchased with the minimum wage. When the dollar rose to 26 liras on June 30, the minimum wage had fallen to 327 dollars. In July, a 34 percent raise was implemented, increasing the minimum wage to 11,402 liras. On July 1, the dollar reached 26 liras, and although the new minimum wage compensated for the loss in June, it could only reach 438.5 dollars and failed to reach its value at the beginning of the year. However, as we reached November, minimum wage earners experienced a significant loss against the dollar along with the increasing depreciation of the TL. With the 11,402 lira minimum wage, only 401.8 dollars can be purchased today at an exchange rate around the 28.38 lira level. While the TL has lost 34 percent of its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year, the minimum wage, which was 454.8 dollars (8,506 liras) in January, has fallen to 401.8 dollars (11,402 liras), meaning the loss for workers in dollar terms since the beginning of the year has reached 53 dollars.

THE HUNGER THRESHOLD INCREASED BY 4,820 LIRAS IN 10 MONTHS

When Mehmet Şimşek took office as the Minister of Treasury and Finance on June 4, consumer inflation was at 39.59 percent on an annual basis. The Turkish Statistical Institute announced annual consumer inflation as 61.36 percent in October. According to Türk-İş's hunger and poverty research, when the minimum wage was 8,506 liras in January, the hunger threshold was 8,864 liras and the poverty threshold was 28,875 liras. In October, while the minimum wage was 11,402 liras, the hunger threshold reached 13,684 TL and the poverty threshold reached 44,573 liras. In the January-October 2023 period, the hunger threshold increased by 4,820 liras.

News Source: 12punto