Will there be a price hike for electricity and natural gas after the elections?

The Center for Combating Disinformation (DMM), operating under the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, has announced that claims shared on some social media accounts, alleging that Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) Governor Fatih Karahan said, "We can expect a 150-200 percent hike in electricity and natural gas after the elections," are not true.

The statement from the DMM included the following: "Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) Governor Fatih Karahan made statements at the 1st Inflation Report Briefing Meeting of the year and answered questions from members of the press. It has been determined that Karahan did not use such an expression in his statements as claimed."

The remainder of the statement shared the answer given by Central Bank Governor Karahan to a question regarding the impact of potential post-election energy price hikes on inflation. In response to the question, Karahan said, "When we make our inflation forecasts, we create a projection for price hikes in these managed and directed products, including potential hikes in many items. Naturally, the prominent factor here will be energy prices; an adjustment is expected in electricity and natural gas. In this framework, we used the Medium-Term Program (OVP) while creating our path. The OVP is a quite binding program this year. It is a program embraced by every channel of the government. There are certain assumptions made there. We believe they will be realized, and while making our forecasts, we anticipated that there would be some updates in these prices and reflected these in our forecasts." 

The claim shared on some social media accounts that "Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan said, 'We can expect a 150 - 200 percent hike in electricity and natural gas after the elections'" is not true.

Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) Governor Fatih Karahan, at the 1st... pic.twitter.com/jhg6ETYkbO

— Dezenformasyonla Mücadele Merkezi (@dmmiletisim) February 8, 2024

News Source: 12punto