The bill for 22 years is heavy! Inflation has taken off, salaries have lost their purchasing power

The phrase “from where to where,” which has become synonymous with President and AKP Chairman Tayyip Erdoğan, has revealed a pathetic picture after 22 years.

EXCHANGE RATE INCREASED 20-FOLD

According to the report by Veli Toprak from Sözcü; the dollar, which was 1.61 TL in 2002, has increased 20-fold over the past 22 years to reach 32.5 TL, while the Euro has risen from 1.66 TL to 34.9 TL.

With the climb in foreign exchange rates, inflation has also multiplied during the AKP era. Consumer inflation, which was 29.7 percent in 2002, rose to 68.5 percent in March 2024. High inflation has eroded salaries.

Although the AKP government constantly emphasizes that the minimum wage, which was 163 TL in 2002, has reached 17 thousand 2 TL in 2024, the minimum wage, which has practically become the average wage, has become worthless. Bread, which was 18 kuruş in 2002, is now sold for 10 TL. The price of a kilogram of red meat has risen from 9 TL to 600 TL in 22 years.

THERE ARE 9.6 MILLION UNEMPLOYED

In 2002, the lowest pension of 216 TL was 53 TL above the minimum wage.

Now, the 10 thousand TL pension has fallen to almost half of the minimum wage after 22 years. Although the narrow-defined unemployment rate has decreased from 10.3 percent to 8.7 percent in 22 years, unemployment has exploded during this period. While the broad-defined unemployment rate in Turkey reached 24.5 percent as of February, there are 9.6 million unemployed. The gross external debt stock broke a record, rising from 131.8 billion dollars in 2002 to 500 billion dollars in 2023.

27-FOLD INCREASE IN FUEL

As a result of the AKP's economic policies, a car with a 45-liter tank now fills up for 2,000 TL. Over the past 22 years, fuel prices have increased 27-fold. The price of a liter of gasoline has reached 43.6 TL from 1.62 TL, and a liter of diesel has reached 41 TL from 1.48 TL. As a result of high inflation and falling purchasing power, citizens have had to borrow more. However, while consumer loan interest rates have risen from 54.7 percent to 82 percent in 22 years, the policy rate has reached 50 percent from 46 percent.

News Source: 12punto