Over 60 percent of people in Turkey fear that their living standards will take a turn for the worse over the next year, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos polling, making Turkey the least hopeful about the future among the 28 countries in the survey.
A total of 80 percent of those surveyed in Turkey said they would be “ unable to purchase next year” what they were able to this year and 58 percent said that they believe their disposable income after subtracting their basic living expenses would decrease in the upcoming year, Sözcü newspaper cited the poll as finding on Monday.
The survey arrives as Turkish inflation has hit a 24-year high of 79.6 percent in July, according to official data, making it difficult for the population to meet their basic needs. Consumer food price inflation in the country reached 93.6 percent on an annualized basis in July in the country, about seven times the OECD average of 12.59 percent, according to Sözcü.
Turkey’s economic crisis began last year, when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan launched an unorthodox economic experiment in a bid to decrease chronically high inflation by slashing interest rates. The move prompted the lira to slump, losing 44 percent of its value by the years-end. The currency has lost some 24 percent of value this year.
Some 73 percent of Turks said they will difficulty in paying their gas and electricity bills in the upcoming six months, according to the Ipsos survey.
Eighty-seven 87 percent of those surveyed said they expect their energy bills to hike further in the upcoming six months, the survey found.
Turkey in June raised natural gas and power prices for houses by 30 percent and for commercial purposes by 40 percent. The hike followed a 35 percent increase in household gas prices in April.
Turkey’s real annual inflation accelerated to 176 percent, ENAG Group, an independent institution set up two years ago to track the country’s inflation, said earlier this month.
Ahval