Grocery prices are rapidly going up as the exchange rate of the US dollar hits 9.18 Turkish lira and the official inflation rate nears 20 percent.
Two families who shared the details of their grocery shopping with bianet complain about high costs. Here are the prices shared by the families of retired workers who live on a salary of 2,500 lira (~272 USD) each:
The family who shopped at a grocery chain and a bakery:
Tomato paste: 5.75 lira
Pita bread: 2.5 lira
Ciabatta bread: 2 lira
Fruit juice: 6.95 lira
Yoghurt: 13.95 ira
Cheese cracker sticks: 15 lira
Total: 46.15 lira
The family said there was a 2 lira discount in yoghurt.
The family who shopped at the district bazaar in İstanbul’s Büyükada island:
Village bread: 10 lira
Four pieces of lavash bread: 10 lira
Apples (1kg): 10 lira
Grapes: 20 lira
Radish and lettuce: 15 lira
Kashar cheese: 50 lira
Grapes: 30 lira
Mushrooms (half a kilo): 15 lira
Hot green peppers (150 grams): 3 lira
Total: 163 lira
The second part of the shopping at the bazaar:
Bananas (half a kilo):
Grapes: 10 lira
Tomatoes (1kg): 15 lira
Parsley: 2 lira
Dill: 2 lira
Mandarin oranges: 6 lira
Lemons: 2 lira
Cucumbers (2 pieces): 8 lira
Spring onions: 6 lira
Total: 57 lira
“Let’s go shopping together with Erdoğan”
Both families said they can’t cook any meals with what they had bought as they were just “accessories.”
“We have to live for a month with these salaries,” they said.
Criticizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who recently said workers and civil servants were happy that their salaries increased by 30 percent, higher than inflation, the families said, “We are not happy at all. Let the president come here and do shopping together with us.” (HA/VK)
Source: Bianet
