Treasury and Finance Minister Nebati says inflation surge ‘temporary’

Duvar English

Turkey’s Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati has said the surge in the country’s inflation, which reached a record 20-year high of 61.14 percent in March, is “temporary.”

“We are fighting high inflation and we want to pull up purchasing power above the previous level. The foreign exchange rate has come to a level that can be managed in terms of production, investment and exports. Our aim is to drop inflation to appropriate levels,” he said on April 11 at a meeting with business people in the southeastern province of Mardin.

Nebati said their aim was to develop Turkey and bring it to a level “it deserves” in the 21st century, adding that their goal was to make Turkey less dependent on energy and agriculture.

“Our ambition is to include Turkey in the top 10 economies in the world,” he said.

Turkey is currently suffering severe economic woes and recorded its highest inflation in the past two decades. 

Annually, transportation prices rose 99.12 percent and food and non-alcoholic drink prices were up 70.33 percent. 

While official inflation was recorded as 61.14 percent in March, independent economists say the figure is much higher, at 164.63 percent.