Turkey’s businessmen should sacrifice their profits for at least three months and be rewarded with martyr status in return for saving the country from its economic difficulties, said Necmettin Batırel, a columnist on the economy for pro-government newspaper Türkiye.
Businessmen should slash their prices by 50 percent and “have their names written in golden letters on a list of economic heroes”, just like those who successfully fought against a military coup attempt in 2016, said Batırel, who frequently appears on television to comment on economic developments.
“The pandemic came to our rescue. The global economic picture has changed. China is out of the supply chain, Turkey has taken its place. Conditions are ripe for transitioning to the new economic model,” Batırel said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ordered the central bank to cut interest rates even as inflation accelerated as part of an economic “war of independence” to boost exports and economic growth. The lira has weakened to successive record lows and inflation has accelerated to 21.3 percent, raising concerns for an full-blown financial and economic crisis.
Those who complain that inflation in Turkey is at three-year highs should look to the United States and Europe, where interest rates are less than 1 percent or negative despite an record inflation, Batırel said.
He said new legislation designed to prevent businessmen from illegally hoarding goods would deal with “price terrorists”.
Ahval