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Turks Scramble as Lira Falls and Prices Soar

Aug 16, 2018 Admin Top News 0

On the streets of Istanbul, the anxiety was evident. Restaurateurs and cafe owners are already struggling with a 50 percent drop in business over the past three years after terrorist attacks scared away many foreign tourists.

Now other Turkish businesses are feeling the downturn.

A storekeeper, Mustafa Yuksel, 30, who sells gardening equipment and insecticides, most of it imported, said he had raised his prices as soon as the lira fell on Friday.

“To stand on our feet, we immediately raised our prices,” he said.

People who needed to buy were surprised but going ahead. But some, including the local city municipalities, were holding off, he said.

Business was also down at the Sehremini Market, where the pensioners did their shopping. The salesmen attributed the fall in sales to the summer holidays, since many families leave the city, but several admitted they were worried.

Few would blame it on Mr. Erdogan, however. A fruit seller, Sedat Eski, blamed it on the British, alluding to one of many conspiracy theories encouraged by Mr. Erdogan — that foreign powers were behind the currency crash in order to undermine Turkey.

“All the rich people pulled out their money at 2 a.m.,” Mr. Eski said. Turkey’s richest people had moved their money to the United Kingdom, he said. “And who do you think is pulling their strings.”

About the only ones who seemed to be enjoying the plunge in the lira were foreign tourists, who were snapping up sudden bargains on luxury goods in the high-end district of Nisantasi.