Survey: 68% of citizens want economic improvement, stronger lira ahead of Turkey's elections runoff
ALBAWABA – The Turkish Lira has fallen to an all-time low against the United States (US) dollar, briefly breaching the TRY20 barrier on Monday, before picking up slightly to TRY19.8275, Bloomberg reported.
The ongoing elections have amplified the fluctuation of the national Turkish currency, news and media outlets reported. More so with the recent stalemate and the upcoming run-off, between President Incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu.
Neither one of the candidates was able to secure the constitutionally mandated majority to be formally elected president. Erdogan was close, with a little over 49 percent, and his rival just shy of 45 percent of the votes, according to Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Erdogan has been leading on the economic front with a series of unorthodox policies and decisions.
Under his presidency, the Lira lost 44 percent of its value in 2021 and 30 percent of in 2022, according to Investing.com, and inflation soared in Turkey. The weekly fluctuation rate of the Turkish Lira increased from 17.2 percent on Friday to 30 percent today, Monday.
In an effort to retain investor and trader confidence ahead of the upcoming runoff elections, the Turkish Central Bank rescinded the restrictions issued last Monday on the use of credit cards. These restrictions would constrain the use of credit card to purchase gold or withdraw cash from ATMs.
The central bank’s decision sparked a wave of renewed criticism by traders and investors announcing support for Erdogan’s rival. As well as citizens calling for change on the economic and financial policies front.
A survey published by CNBC Arabia showed that 68 percent of Turkey’s citizens want improvement on the economic front. Whereas 59 percent want a stronger Turkish Lira, lower inflation and living costs.
Only 44 percent of Turks surveyed wanted improvements on the civil rights frontier. While 57, 55, and 52 percent of the surveyed sample, respectively, want better education, more jobs, and solutions to poverty.
According to CNBC Arabia, 2,085 participants were surveyed between the ages of 18 and 64, all Turks, in the duration from January through March, 2023.
