Turkey: President Erdogan accuses supermarkets of fueling runaway inflation
President Erdogan accuses large retailers of fueling runaway inflation in the country.
AP - Vyacheslav Prokofyev
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Turkey, consumer prices rose by 84.4% year on year in November, according to official figures released on Monday.
Inflation remains particularly marked for transport and food, with an average annual increase of 102% in food prices.
President Erdogan also accuses supermarkets of fueling inflation.
Last week he promised tighter controls.
Advertising
Read more
With our correspondent in Istanbul
,
Anne Andlauer
For Recep Tayyip Erdogan, large retailers are the designated culprits of the explosion in food prices in Turkey.
He accuses them of inflating their margins, of storing products to sell them at a higher price and later.
Entangled in a controversy, the president of the Association of Food Retailers resigned on December 4.
In Turkey, inflation remains particularly marked for transport and food, with an average annual increase of 102% in food prices.
Illustration: in an Istanbul market.
Marco Plassio/Creative Commons
The price differences can indeed be impressive.
According to the Union of Agricultural Chambers, in November, a lettuce cost on average 236% more to the consumer than its purchase price to the producer.
For an apple, the difference was 209%, 180% for parsley, squash or carrots.
►
To listen also:
in
Turkey, in the face of inflation, the Turks are turning to "homemade" products
Bet on the short circuit
Ahmet Atalik, head of agricultural services at Istanbul City Hall, rather denounces a chain of responsibilities.
“
On the one hand, there is the effect of the sharp rise in the price of fuels or electricity used to transport and store the products before they reach us.
But above all there are many intermediaries who inflate prices for the consumer while putting pressure on farmers to limit their selling prices.
The problem is such that our producers consider themselves happy if they succeed in reimbursing their production costs!
»
A solution, in his eyes: develop short circuits – direct sales, farmers' markets, cooperatives – and curb imports of agricultural products, which have been rising steadily in recent years.
►
Also to listen: Inflation: one in four Europeans say they are in a precarious situation
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Turkey
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Economy
Economic crisis
Company
consumption