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Mahfi Eğilmez issues warning: 'If we try a little harder...'

Evaluating the inflation data released by TURKSTAT and ENAG, economist Mahfi Eğilmez stated that it is incorrect to say there is hyperinflation in Turkey, adding, 'What Turkey is experiencing is very high inflation. Whether we might head toward hyperinflation if we try a little harder is a different matter.'

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Economist Mahfi Eğilmez shared a post on his X (Twitter) account regarding hyperinflation.

Eğilmez stated that it is incorrect to claim there is hyperinflation in Turkey by looking only at food prices or rents in our immediate surroundings. 

Stating that “What Turkey is experiencing is very high inflation,” Eğilmez used the following expressions;

"Friends, you cannot change technical definitions as you please. Hyperinflation is the name given to an inflation rate where the annual inflation rate exceeds the 200 percent threshold. In Turkey, the inflation announced by TURKSTAT is 67 percent, while the inflation announced by ENAG is 127 percent. There is no other institution or company that measures inflation on this scale. The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) also measures it, but only as a cost-of-living index for wage earners in Istanbul. It is incorrect to say there is hyperinflation in Turkey by looking only at food prices or rents in our immediate surroundings. One must collect prices from all over Turkey and from more than 400 goods and services, as in the CPI index, every month, weight them, and look at it that way. What Turkey is experiencing is very high inflation. Whether we might head toward hyperinflation if we try a little harder is a different matter."


WHAT IS HYPERINFLATION?

Hyperinflation is the state of inflation when it exceeds the 200 percent annual threshold. It is also called galloping inflation. It is the most severe form of inflation where money loses its value.