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Turkey: Erdogan dismisses his chief statistician after the publication of inflation

2022-01-29T00:34:43.882Z


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sacked the head of the national statistics agency, according to a decree published on Saturday January 29, after...


Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sacked the head of the national statistics agency, according to a decree published on Saturday January 29, after the publication of annual inflation figures.

The head of the National Statistics Office, Sait Erdal Dincer, has come under fire after releasing data in early January that put the annual inflation rate at 36.1%, its highest level in 19 years.

The head of state did not explain his decision to appoint Erhan Cetinkaya, former vice-president of the Turkish banking regulator, as the new head of state statistics in his place.

Read alsoTurkey between despair, anger and repression with the economic crisis

The opposition said the figure was underestimated, saying the actual increase in the cost of living was at least twice as high.

Inflation soared to more than 36% over one year in December in Turkey, a record since September 2002, due to the fall of the Turkish lira.

The rise in consumer prices, more than seven times greater than the government's initial target, at 13.58% in December alone, is explained by the drop of nearly 45% in the Turkish lira against the dollar in one year, despite the emergency measures announced by the Head of State in mid-December.

“Get inflation down to single digits as soon as possible”

Eighteen months before the presidential election, aware of the damage caused not only to the economy but also to his confidence rating, Erdogan had promised in early January to

“bring inflation back to single digits as quickly as possible”

.

Because these figures are the subject of a bitter political battle: the opposition and part of the population accuse the National Statistics Office (Tüik) of knowingly underestimating the rise in prices, fueled by the economic policy of the president which has prompted the Turkish central bank to systematically lower interest rates in recent months.

Read alsoTurkey: soon the end for Recep Tayyip Erdogan?

Erdogan also appointed former deputy prime minister Bekir Bozdag as the new justice minister to replace veteran ruling party member Abdulhamit Gul.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2022-01-29

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