The ruling power does not want an investigation into the economic impact of the operation against İmamoğlu

The cancellation of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu's diploma and his arrest have caused major turmoil in the markets. Following these developments, Borsa Istanbul experienced a 10 percent decline, while the Turkish Lira rapidly lost value. Turkey's risk premium also rose during this process.

According to a report by Cumhuriyet, TBMM Planning and Budget Committee member and İYİ Party Samsun Deputy Erhan Usta, along with 19 other deputies, submitted a parliamentary research motion to investigate the economic cost of these events. The motion detailed the economic fluctuations that occurred following the cancellation of İmamoğlu's diploma on March 18 and his arrest on March 19. Attention was drawn to the loss of value in Borsa Istanbul, the decline of the TL against foreign currencies, and the increase in Turkey's CDS risk premium. It was noted that the Central Bank used its reserves to stabilize the exchange rate and that the overnight repo interest rate was raised to 46 percent.

DIMENSIONS OF THE ECONOMIC COST

The motion stated that the rise in the dollar/TL exchange rate from 36.6 to 38.4 and the increases in interest rates resulted in a public cost of approximately 950 billion TL. It was stated that this cost stemmed from items such as the increase in the budget's domestic and foreign debt principal payments, the increase in interest payments on domestic debt indexed to CPI, foreign currency, and gold, and public-private partnership payments.

The motion emphasized that when indirect effects are added to these direct costs, the total cost to the economy would be much higher. However, the motion was rejected by the ruling power in the TBMM General Assembly. This situation has once again brought to the agenda the necessity of a comprehensive reform program regarding issues such as investigating the vulnerabilities of the Turkish economy and establishing the rule of law.

News Source: 12punto