Mahfi Eğilmez's salary increase formula for retirees and minimum wage earners: 'We cannot turn our backs on these people...'
Economist Mahfi Eğilmez has announced his salary increase formula for millions of retirees and minimum wage earners. Stating that the wrong economic policy is being pursued, Eğilmez said, "There is incredible public waste. Resources for this can be found by cutting public waste."
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While AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared 2024 the Year of Retirees, millions of retirees have been condemned to a misery wage of 10 thousand TL.
Although statements were made by the government front before the elections that a flat-rate raise would be given to retirees, the retirees' expectations were not met.
As the earnings of minimum wage earners also melt away due to high inflation and the rising exchange rate, Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan announced that an additional raise for the minimum wage is not on the agenda.
While the government front says 'there are no resources' in response to citizens' expectations for salary increases, economist Dr. Mahfi Eğilmez provided a formula that should be listened to carefully for a raise that would provide some relief to civil servants, minimum wage earners, and those working for very low salaries.
Speaking to İsmail Küçükkaya on Halk TV, Eğilmez said regarding the approximately 26-27 million people living on low wages, "We cannot turn our backs on these people just because our treasury's situation is not suitable," and added the following:
"THERE IS INCREDIBLE PUBLIC WASTE"
"There are roughly 16 million retirees. There are around 7 million minimum wage earners. There are also 3-4 million people who earn just above the minimum wage, meaning they earn very low wages. If we add them up, 26-27 million people are forced to live on very low wages.
We cannot turn our backs on them just because our treasury's situation is not suitable. People are struggling to survive, and inflation cannot be prevented either. We have no indicators that inflation will fall permanently. We need to adjust these people to the rapidly rising inflation.
How do we do this? By cutting public waste. There is incredible public waste. When I was the Undersecretary of the Treasury, my car was a Renault. It never even crossed my mind to think, 'Why am I riding in this, I want a Mercedes,' or anything like that. Now, even the lowest-level district director has a late-model car. We cannot get anywhere with this. Resources for this can be found by cutting public waste."