Inflation crisis hits Turkey's retirees hardest of all
According to economists and Turkish seniors' personal accounts, the elderly who suffered most during the COVID-19 pandemic are now being hardest hit by the economic slump.
ISTANBUL — A recent visit by opposition politicians to a pensioners’ association has highlighted the plight of those hit hardest by Turkey’s highest rate of inflation in two decades.
Retirees across the country have seen their income ravaged by price increases of 36.08% year-on-year, according to official figures. Unofficially, independent economists at ENAGrup, which analyses thousands of prices, put the annual rate at 82.81%.
Although the lowest monthly state pension rose from 1,500 liras ($110) to 2,500 liras ($184) at the start of the year, it lags behind the minimum wage, which was raised by 50% in December to 4,250 liras ($312).
Some 1.3 million of Turkey’s 13.4 million social security recipients receive the lowest rate of state pension.
