Credit card spending reaches a new record level

As the Turkish Lira continues to lose value due to high inflation, the cost of living, and the constantly rising exchange rate, citizens struggling to make ends meet have turned to their credit cards.

While economic management has signaled regulations regarding credit card spending, a new record has been broken in card-based expenditures.

According to data from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (TCMB) for the week ending March 1, the total amount of debit and credit card transactions increased by 15 percent compared to the previous week, reaching 262.6 billion TL.

Thus, a new record was set in card-based spending. It was observed that tax and private pension system (BES) payments had a significant upward impact on the increase during this period, with a rise of 9.6 billion TL.

According to the commentary of economist Haluk Bürümcekçi, while the increases were widespread, the most prominent weekly rises were seen in the service sectors, education, vehicle rental-sales, fuel, and furniture expenditure groups. Among the few sub-groups where spending decreased, electrical-electronics expenditures stood out.

RECORD IN ONLINE CARD SHOPPING AS WELL

Separately from these transactions, shopping done via credit card over the internet also set a record, rising by 15.6 billion TL weekly to reach 83.4 billion TL.

The annual change in the 4-week moving average of total shopping, including internet but excluding tax and BES payments, continued to rise with a 139.5 percent increase.

ŞİMŞEK HAD SIGNALED REGULATION

Speaking to Bloomberg HT, Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek had signaled a regulation regarding credit card limits.

Şimşek stated, "I said that domestic demand is softening. Of course, there are some studies that the Central Bank will conduct. These issues have come up in the Financial Stability Committee. What is important here is that banks comply with the rules. When determining limits, it must be based on realistic declarations and documentation. Secondly, these limits must be consistent. That is, it should not be a case of each bank determining a limit according to its own discretion. We will work on those issues. But there is no study that we have completed. In the coming period, we will work on these issues without making any surprises and without disrupting the markets. We will implement whatever international norms and rules require."