Ankara, Dec 22 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to sharply slow the inflation in the coming months and relieve Turkish citizens of the burden of a high cost of living.
"Hopefully, we will witness that inflation will go downhill in the coming months. Let's make 2023 the turning point of our liberation from the trouble of living cost," Erdogan told his party members at the parliament on Wednesday.
The world has been struggling with waves of economic crisis, but Turkey has reached its growth targets, the President said, adding that he believed the country would see a growth rate of 4-5 per cent by the end of 2022, Xinhua news agency reported.
Erdogan said his government would announce a new hike in the minimum wage this week as part of its economic packages to fight the country's financial difficulties.
He added the Turkish Central Bank lowered its interest rate to 9 per cent in November and called on businessmen to take this advantage to make new investments.
Turkey's inflation eased to 84.39 per cent in November from a 24-year high of 85.5 per cent in October, slowing for the first time in 18 months.
The decline was in line with expectations and owed largely to the statistical effect of the high base in the same month of 2021.
Erdogan supports low-interest rates in the hope of boosting economic growth and employment. The monetary policy has weakened the Turkish lira by more than 50 per cent since September 2021 and fuelled a flight from the currency.
Erdogan, who is seeking another term in office in next year's elections, has repeatedly defended his unconventional economic policies, promising that the country will "overcome" the inflation problem after the new year.
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