STORY: High inflation rate tests consumers' patience in Türkiye
DATELINE: Sept. 9, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:42
LOCATION: ISTANBUL, Türkiye
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Turkish people on the streets and shopping
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): MEHMET NURI SULAT, 70-year-old pensioner
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): SAKINE YELGE, 57-year-old homemaker
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Turkish): ISMAIL YIGIT, 67-year-old pensioner

STORYLINE:

Annual inflation in Türkiye hit 58.9 percent in August, with consumer prices increasing 9.09 percent from the previous month, according to official data released on Monday.

Food costs increased significantly to a high of 72.9 percent year-on-year in August, putting an additional burden on struggling households.

Türkiye is undergoing an economic overhaul since the appointment of market-friendly figures at key economic posts following the May general elections.

More conventional monetary policies have been implemented, and interest rates have been significantly hiked but this has not helped yet the cost-of-living crisis.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek both said that their country is witnessing a transition and urged citizens to be "patient."

SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): MEHMET NURI SULAT, 70-year-old pensioner
"I find the prices excessively high. High prices are a burden for us compared to our meager pensions.
I own my house, but people have a terrible time paying their rents nowadays. We are in a mess. There's so much patience that we can endure, after a point, you cannot have patience, and we are at an impasse. We don't have a social life anymore because of the high cost of living. The government should act to prevent excessive price hikes."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): SAKINE YELGE, 57-year-old homemaker
"Life is very expensive, everything is out of price. I'm truly sad for my children. We are feeling the pinch of inflation. We didn't buy much, but we already spent a lot of money. We cannot make ends meet with our income. The future looks very gloomy. We cannot afford anything, I have two grandchildren, and I am not able to purchase them something with my income, it's very saddening."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Turkish): ISMAIL YIGIT, 67-year-old pensioner
"Food prices are high of course, for example, people want to prepare tomato paste, but tomatoes cost 25 liras a kilo. How can people buy those items? My pension is far from enough to cover my needs. They are telling us to be patient, we are keeping patient, but for how long."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Istanbul, Türkiye.
(XHTV)