Erodgan Promises Energy Price Cuts As Election Campaign Ramps Up

Wires reporting that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has promised to cut electricity prices by 15% and natural gas prices for industry users by 20% as of April. The policy comes as the presidential election campaign begins to ramp up in intensity ahead of the 14 May vote. Opinion polling shows Erdogan trailing main opposition Nation Alliance candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu, while betting market data from Smarkets shows Kilicdaroglu with a 60% implied probability of victory to Erdogan's 40% (see 1743BST bullet on 28 Mar).

• Should polls continue to show a close race with Erdogan trailing narrowly we could see more people-pleasing policies coming from the president and his administration in an attempt to win over voters over the next month-and-a-half of campaigning.
• Erdogan making energy prices and supply a major issue of campaign. At the start of March he stated that "If this main opposition and its supporters come to power in this country, believe me tomorrow, we will fall to this point again, just as the electricity was cut off and we were in need of energy."