STORY: High inflation in Türkiye fuels soaring credit card debt
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 22, 2023
DATELINE: Nov. 23, 2023
LENGTH: 0:02:18
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of people on the street and shopping in Türkiye
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): BASAR CETIN, 42-year-old chiropractor
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): EMIRCAN SIMSEK, 24-year-old waiter

STORYLINE:

Türkiye's runaway inflation is ramping up credit card spending by consumers who find themselves faced with increased legal proceedings due to card default.

Credit card debts soared by 119 percent to 991 billion Turkish liras (34.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the first ten months of 2023, according to banking regulatory watchdog.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): BASAR CETIN, 42-year-old chiropractor
"I use credit cards for daily spending. Credit cards are practical tools but if you don't use them correctly, if you don't pay the full balance on a monthly basis, they become a burden. I also was affected by that, but I managed to pay off all of my debt.
As people cannot make ends meet because of high prices, they turn to credit cards and cash withdrawals, and in the end, they are not able to manage their debts."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): EMIRCAN SIMSEK, 24-year-old waiter
"People around me use their cards for their expenses during the month, and at the end of the month, they only pay the minimum amount, and therefore debt accumulates. I have many friends around me who live like this."

Although costs have risen across the board, inflation has hit Turks harder in certain areas including food, housing, and utility bills.

The increase in credit card expenditures also affects the rate of debt default. As of October, the default rate stood at 11.7 percent.

Every 12 out of 100 people are faced with legal proceedings launched by banks to recover their money.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)