Inflation response of chain stores to the government

Galip Aykaç, president of the Association of Food Retailers (GPD), responded to allegations that chain markets are charging exorbitant prices.

Aykaç, who is also a member of BİM’s Executive Board, stated that they have announced their balance sheets, saying, “Many of our businesses are making losses. Speculators also work with a profit margin between 0 and 4 percent. “Even if we sacrifice profitability, our main focus is on costs.”

Speaking to Bloomberg HT, Aykaç said that there has not been an increase in profit margins for his own market in the last 5 years, saying: “We have to reduce external dependency and develop livestock. Cheese prices are said to exceed meat prices. Meat prices will increase in the next period. Inflation is something the world goes through, it’s a little different in Turkey. There is cost inflation. The things that we talk about, that we don’t focus on, will not be based on knowledge. Orgazine’s retail sector does not trigger inflation.

‘THE MINISTRY IS TAKING A DIFFERENT PATH ON AUDITS’

Expressing that the Ministry of Commerce will resort to different ways in market inspections, Aykaç said: “They have an idea to comment on the data. That is what the Minister of Commerce Mehmet Muş told us. We will share our sales price data. The controls can be easily adjusted. If there is an error, the State will do what is necessary within the framework of the legislation, ”he said.

‘EYT FINANCIAL BURDEN’

Making statements about the minimum wage and the EYT regulation, Aykaç said: “We have more than 75 thousand employees. The number of people stuck on EYT is also dire. Although we don’t know what will come of the regulation, severance payments will impose a financial burden on companies. I suppose it will be edited with this in mind. We estimate that there will be a cargo of around 500 million TL in our market,” he said.

Expressing that the income bracket in Turkey has now evolved towards higher and lower levels, Aykaç said, “The bottom bracket is more exposed to inflation. Minimum wage expectations must be met at this point. The business world will also be waiting here,” he said.