Statement from the Ministry of Trade regarding bread price hikes

The Ministry of Trade has announced that unfair price increases for bread will not be permitted.

In the statement made by the Ministry, it was pointed out that speculative price movements on the price of bread, which is a staple food for citizens, directly affect the general welfare of society.

The statement noted that bread price tariffs are put into effect by chambers of commerce and tradesmen, that price tariffs are determined based on the maximum selling price of bread, and that the Ministry carries out the necessary inspections when complaints are received regarding pricing above these tariffs.

The statement reported that inspection results identified as exorbitant pricing practices are evaluated as "unfair price increases" by the Unfair Price Evaluation Board and that the necessary administrative fines are imposed, adding the following:

"As a result of practices exceeding the bread price tariff in our 81 provinces, especially in Istanbul, administrative fines ranging from 100 thousand to 1 million Turkish Lira are being imposed on businesses selling bread. In this direction, we would like to underline that no unfair gain or opportunism regarding bread, which is a staple food for our people, will be tolerated. As a Ministry, we are carrying out our work meticulously and taking all kinds of measures to ensure that our citizens do not suffer any grievances."

IT WAS CLAIMED THAT IT COULD RISE TO 15 TL

It had been claimed that the price of a 240-gram loaf of bread in Istanbul could rise to 15 Turkish Lira due to the increase in flour prices.

Erdoğan Çetin, President of the Istanbul Bakers' Chamber, had stated that they had submitted their request to increase the price of 240-gram bread to 15 Turkish Lira to the chambers of tradesmen.

Çetin had emphasized that there has been a significant increase in flour prices recently. Stating, "The 50-kilogram sack of flour that we used to buy for 620-650 Turkish Lira has now risen to the level of 750-800 Turkish Lira," Çetin had said that bakers are struggling to cope with this increase.