The exporter gets what he wants: The dollar goes up, the minimum wage goes down
The rapid increase in the dollar/TL rate after the May 14 elections benefited exporters.
Exporters, who wanted the lira to lose 20 to 25 percent of its value against the dollar on the grounds that it could not compete with global rivals, complained about the suppression of foreign exchange.
The dollar rate, which started the week at a new record high by breaking through the 21 level on Monday, broke the record by breaking through the 23.1 level today. The euro exchange rate, on the other hand, reached the level of 24.93 today.
Thus, the minimum wage, which was $455 at the beginning of the year, has decreased to approximately $366 today.
Mustafa Gültepe, Chairman of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM), said yesterday: “We must be able to keep the level of the minimum wage between 300 and 400 dollars maximum.”
THEY WANT TO KEEP THE MINIMUM WAGE BETWEEN 300-400 DOLLARS
Vedat Bilgin, who was labor and social security minister before the new cabinet, said he was working to raise the minimum wage to $500.
The 300 dollars that Gültepe indicates at 6 thousand 944 TL, which is below the current minimum wage.
Gültepe, who called for new incentives to be given to employers to increase the minimum wage, which is expected to rise to 500 dollars in July, said that “if we can give 500, we have to do special studies to stay at a sustainable point, otherwise otherwise the industry is not in a position to handle it.”
‘DOLLAR SHOULD HAVE BEEN 24 TL PER YEAR’
The reason why exporters insistently demanded a depreciation of the TL in the months leading up to the May 14 elections was that the exchange rate was being suppressed both by the depletion of the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves (CBRT) and as for the use of the Protected Currency Deposit (KKM).
Exporters, who complained that they lost competitiveness vis-à-vis other countries because the exchange rate was contained too much, said this led to lost orders and reduced exports.
The president of the Aegean Exporters Unions, Jak Eskinazi, said that if the current policies continue after the elections, factories could be closed and said that the lira would have to weaken by 20 percent against the dollar to become competitive.
TOBB Garment and Garment Assembly Chairman Şeref Fayat said that after the election, the CBRT should switch to orthodox economic management and free the exchange rate in a free market regime; “Regardless of who wins, traditional methods must be brought back,” he said.
On the other hand, TİM Chairman Gültepe said in a statement he made yesterday: “We don’t want high exchange rates. The more inflation rises, the more we want the exchange rate to rise. Anyway, the rate was supposed to be 24 at the beginning of the year. We want the exchange rate to be free,” he said.
Thus, exchange rates, which were maintained by depleting the Central Bank’s foreign exchange reserves (CBRT) before the elections, were liberalized after the elections in a way that satisfied exporters and attracted foreign speculative capital.