Mahfi Eğilmez: The last 5 years were the most unsuccessful years of the Republic

Former Treasury Undersecretary Mahfi Eğilmez, who penned an article titled "The 100-Year Balance Sheet of the Republican Economy," stated that the momentum of success maintained in economic management from the date the Republic was proclaimed until the 1950s could not be sustained. According to the report in Sözcü, Eğilmez explained that comparisons of per capita income with the world and South Korea clearly reveal this situation, stating, "The last five years are the most unsuccessful five years of the Republican era. Bulgaria and Romania, which started far behind us, have surpassed us in terms of prosperity levels in the last five years."

WEAK SOCIAL REPORT CARD

South Korea, which Eğilmez highlighted, developed through economic growth and became a high-income country. In Korea, which grew without falling into the middle-income trap, per capita national income reached 33,147 dollars. Turkey's per capita national income, on the other hand, finished 2022 at the 10,655 dollar level.

According to the Republic's social report card shared by Eğilmez, Turkey ranks 116th in the Rule of Law index, which compares 140 countries, while Romania ranks 38th and Bulgaria ranks 68th. Furthermore, it should be noted that while inflation is 8.8 percent in Romania and 6.3 percent in Bulgaria, Turkey is struggling with high inflation at a rate of 61.53 percent.

Eğilmez concluded his article with the following words: "Although we characterize the last five years of the Republican era as the most unsuccessful period, when we describe this period as one in which all the social, political, and economic accumulations of the past were cast aside and the ideals of the Republic were abandoned, the question of whether it is correct to include it in the Republican era becomes debatable."

NATIONAL INCOME STAGNATED

Analyzing economic policies by dividing them into periods in his article, Mahfi Eğilmez points out that there was a return to a market economy between 2007 and 2017, noting that inflation fell to single digits and that per capita national income rose to 10,696 dollars with a gross domestic product of 859 billion dollars. Stating that irrational policies were implemented in 2018 and beyond, Eğilmez points out that with the transition to the presidential system, the independence of the Central Bank was completely eliminated, and that per capita national income fell to 10,655 dollars with a national income of 906 billion dollars.