woe to the economy

■ Hülya K. ORUÇOĞLU

country The AKP, which advertised that it would speed up decision-making processes by running it as a joint-stock company, got what it wanted. With the 2018 referendum, the Presidential Government System was adopted. However, the one-man rule dragged Turkey into an inextricable crisis. The erosion of trust that came with the one-man rule also caused exchange rates to spiral out of control after a while. Inflation continued to rise in the New Economic Model, which was introduced to keep exchange rates in check. Turkey’s annual inflation reached 85.5 percent according to data announced by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) in October 2022, and up to 185 percent according to the Inflation Research Group (ENAG).

THE PURCHASE IS MADE WITH GRAIN

With these figures, Turkey ranked first in Europe and among the G-20 countries, while impoverished people had to worry about their livelihood. Low-income people began queuing at midnight to access cheap food products. In the last three months alone, the price of beef has risen 69.4 percent. Dried onions and potatoes began to push budgets. The citizens, for their part, went shopping with cereals to satisfy their daily needs. While an eggplant costs 3.40 TL, a tomato 5.75 TL, a cucumber 3.84 TL, the price of a green pepper is 2.25 TL. The price per kilogram of dried onions reached 30 TL. The price of an onion in the model increased to 7.25 TL. A kilogram of watermelon was sold for 30 TL and a slice of 1.5 kilograms for 51 TL. The price per kilogram of one kilogram of imported bananas reached 40 TL. The price of bananas rose to 8 TL.

The decline in food prices in the world is increasing in Turkey

The World Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the prices of grains, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO ), fell to 126.9 in March from 129.7 in February. Thus, food prices fell 20.5 percent below the highest level recorded last year with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In Türkiye, on the other hand, the opposite process took place. The rise in food prices did not stop. According to TÜİK data, consumer prices have been rising continuously for 51 months.