Turkey’s president has sharply increased the country’s minimum wage to ease the cost of living. The minimum wage would be TL8,500, or $455 a month, in 2023, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in televised remarks. The figure is double the rate it was at the start of 2022 and 55 per cent higher than it has been since July. The move is aimed at easing the impact of the cost of living crisis that has plunged millions into financial hardship, hammered small businesses and rendered many unable to afford basic goods. but economists worry it will further increase inflation. Inflation in Turkey has been surging, hitting 84.4 per cent in November.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a televised speech from Ankara Thursday, said that the monthly minimum salary would be brought to 8,500 lire ($455) starting in 2023. More than 30% of Turkey’s workforce is on the minimum wage, according to Turkish officials.
“For now, the minimum wage is the highest in Turkey in the last 20 years,” Ragip Soylu, Turkey bureau chief for Middle East Eye, wrote in a tweet. “It will go really well with Erdogan’s core voters as it did in July. He will get some points. However, it will be important to see whether the impact would continue until the presidential elections.”
