Inflation climbing while Turkish wage-earners always left behind | Mustafa Sönmez
▻http://mustafasonmez.net/?p=4254
The highest price hike annually occurred in the transport group with 13.8 percent. The transportation expenditures occupy the third largest group in family budgets with a share of 15.5 percent. Among them, automobile prices stand out with a 30 percent hike and naval transportation tickets have gone up 23 percent in the past year, while plane tickets have gone up 22 percent.
It was interesting to see the housing expenditures that have a share of 16.4 percent in family budgets, price increases remained under 5 percent in an annual inflation rate nearing 10 percent. One factor is the low course of house rental hikes, but at the same time it is observed that the low course in this group’s price increases are also due to the delayed rises in natural gas and electricity prices.
The situation is not at all good for millions of minimum wage earning workers. For years, the real increase in the minimum wage which was 846 Turkish Liras net ($402) at mid-2010 has been following a course behind the growth. The minimum wage figure net of inflation shows an increase of an average of 2.5 percent annually.
This is 2 points behind the annual 4.4 percent growth rate and it shows minimum wage earners are also left behind in taking their share in the increase in welfare. The climb of inflation to around 10 percent, unless restitutory adjustments are done, will mean that 2014 will also be another year added to lost years in terms of the wage-earning class