Turkey increases minimum wage amid soaring inflation, currency volatility

Ankara, Jul 2 (IANS): Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the country’s minimum wage would be hiked up in the face of soaring inflation and volatile currency rates.

“The minimum wage will be 5,500 Turkish liras ($328) with an interim increase of 30 percent, effective immediately starting on July 1,” Erdogan said.

At the beginning of this year, the government increased the monthly minimum wage by 50 per cent to alleviate the financial burden on workers, reports Xinhua news agency.

Turkey has long been struggling against ever-increasing inflation.

In June, the total losses of the Turkish lira against the US dollar amounted to almost 100 per cent in one year.

Erdogan has long been focusing on a low-interest policy to increase exports and production for a stabilised lira, asking for patience from his voters.