STORY: Turkish consumers feel the squeeze as inflation falls
SHOOTING TIME: July 16, 2024
DATELINE: July 18, 2024
LENGTH: 00:02:45
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. Various of people on the streets and shopping in Ankara, Türkiye 
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): OSMAN GENC, Self-employed worker 
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): NEVIN YILMAZ, Retiree
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Turkish): DINCER DAL, Self-employed worker

STORYLINE:

Turkish consumers are avoiding high-cost purchases and instead concentrating on bargain-shopping for necessities, hoping that decreasing inflation will improve their living standards.

Although inflation is on a downward trend, people are still vexed by high prices and expecting changes.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Turkish): OSMAN GENC, Self-employed worker 
"When citizens go to the grocery or travel, they see that there is a high cost of living. I think that we are not being told the truth concerning inflation figures. I had to sacrifice at least 50 percent of my living costs because of inflation." 

Last month, annual inflation decreased to 71.6 percent from 75.5 percent in May as part of a disinflation program initiated in the summer of 2023, marking the first decline in eight months.

However, hardships prevail for Nevin Yilmaz, a retiree who has to continue to work and wants to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): NEVIN YILMAZ, Retiree
"I have great difficulty making ends meet, even though I receive a public pension and a wage from a private company. I worked for the state for 25 years and experienced serious hardships. I don't think inflation is slowing down, but I hope we'll see some improvement sometime soon." 

SOUNDBITE 3 (Turkish): DINCER DAL, Self-employed worker
"Inflation has dropped on paper. I have a family of nine, and making ends meet with this inflation rate is possible. We spend 80 percent of our budget on food. In the past, we used to buy ourselves a pair of pants and a shirt nowadays, but now we can only buy clothing maybe once a year. We had to sacrifice savings, travel, and clothing to begin with. Furthermore, we sacrificed children's schooling. We can only buy food."

On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his government is sensitive to "the voice in the street" due to the high cost of living.

"We will not allow citizens to be crushed under inflation," he said in a press conference in Ankara.

The government also announced on Tuesday that it would increase public pensions by 25 percent for nearly 4 million retirees receiving the lowest level of 10,000 lira (about 300 U.S. dollars) per month in response to their concerns.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)