Hoping for electoral benefits, the Far-Right coalition partner of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Nationalist Action Party (MHP) President Devlet Bahçeli, is making threats following the recent testing of the short-range ballistic missile “Tayfun” in the Black Sea.
Speaking to his parliamentary group on Tuesday, Bahçeli referred to “Tayfun”, saying it is a “message” to Turkey’s enemies and friends.
“Here you see the Tayfun missile. The best message was given to the enemy, but also a message of trust to our friends. And this continues. Turkey is not joking at all,” he said.
Although the latest opinion polls show a recovery for Erdoğan, they show a stagnation for MHP, who seems to be struggling to reach the electoral threshold of 7%.
READ MORE: Turkish DM Akar provokes Greece on the Muslim minority, the Votanikos mosque and the islands.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s annual inflation is expected to top 80% this month but will slow to 70.25% by end-2022, a Reuters poll showed on Friday, as the central bank continues to cut interest rates despite soaring prices.
Annual inflation is seen at 85.60% in October, according to the median estimate of 11 economists who participated in the Reuters poll, with forecasts ranging between 83.80% and 87.40%.
That would make it the highest reading since June 1998, when annual inflation in Turkey hit 90.60%.
Inflation has surged since last November, when the lira slumped after the central bank began cutting its policy rate in an easing cycle long sought by President Tayyip Erdogan.
The central bank has cut its policy rate again in the last three months, by 350 basis points to 10.5%, and promised another cut next month before ending the current easing cycle. Erdogan, who holds sway over the bank’s decisions, has called for a single-digit policy rate by year-end.
The rate cuts run counter to a global tightening cycle despite the sustained rise in Turkish inflation, surging energy prices and the lagging effects of the lira’s decline.
The lira shed 44% of its value against the dollar in 2021 and has declined by a further 29% so far this year, plumbing historic lows.
On a monthly basis, inflation is expected to climb 3.60%, the poll’s median estimate showed, with a range of 2.60% to 4.60%.
The main factors leading to the rise in inflation in October were food and clothing prices, economists said.
The median forecast for year-end inflation is 70.25%, the median estimate of 11 economists showed, with forecasts ranging from 67.40% to 77.60%.
Turkey’s central bank raised its year-end inflation forecast to 65.2% on Thursday, its fourth upward revision this year.
The government’s economic programme prioritises low rates to boost production and exports with the aim of achieving a current account surplus.
Governor Sahap Kavcioglu said on Thursday the prerequisites for price stability were achieving a lasting current account surplus and the dominance of the lira in households, firms and banks’ balance sheets.
TUIK is scheduled to announce October inflation data at 0700 GMT on Nov. 3.
Source: Greek City Times
