56% of Turks Expect the Economy to Worsen in 2022, Store Owners Push Back on VAT Cut

LOCAL NEWS

• 48% of the citizens blamed Turkey’s energy policy for the price hikes, according to a survey by Turkey Report.
  • 26% of the participants cited exchange rates increase as the reason. Ipsos CEO Sidar Gedik said 56% of the people expect economy to worsen and economic conditions will be the main theme in 2022. – Sozcu, Cumhurriyet
• Market and grocery store owners have pushed back against Erdogan’s vat reduction on key products from 8% to 1%, saying they will make a loss on many products now and that they can only feasibly drop prices within three months after they had cleared the stock they pre-bought at 8% VAT.
  • Erdogan said those who do not reflect price changes immediately will face penalties - Duvar
• Senior Turkish delegation set to visit Israel & Palestine this week (16-17 Feb) ahead of President Herzog’s visit to Turkey in March (first in a decade).
  • Turkey is trying to boost relations with Israel and the broader region to support greater Turkish investment and sign swap deals – Ahval
• International Stats Institute has called on Turkey’s government to stop interfering with its stats institute (TUIK), thereby preventing the organisation from providing objective data. Comes After Erdogan dismissed another TUIK head prior to last month’s CPI data – Ahval

Data:

• 0800GMT: Dec House Price index y/y, 50.3% prior
• 0800GMT: Dec House Price Index m/m, 8.99%