The head of Turkey’s statistics agency has been sacked after being criticized for publishing inflation figures.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sacked the head of the national statistics agency, according to a decree published on Saturday, after the publication of record annual inflation figures 18 months before the presidential election.
The head of the National Statistics Office, Sait Erdal Dincer, has come under fire after releasing data in early January that put the annual inflation rate at 36.1%, its highest level in 19 years.
“I have a responsibility vis-à-vis 84 million people,” argued Sait Erdal Dincer, explaining to the economic daily Dunya that it was simply impossible to publish inflation figures different from those noted by its services.
The opposition, however, said the official figure was underestimated, saying the actual increase in the cost of living was at least twice as high.
President Erdogan has not explained his decision to appoint Erhan Cetinkaya, a former vice president of Turkey’s banking regulator, as head of state statistics, replacing Mr Dincer.
“This decision will only increase the lack of confidence in official data in a context where economic policy is already a source of concern,” said analyst Timothy Ash of Blue Bay Asset.
Inflation soared to more than 36% over one year in December in Turkey, a record since September 2002, due to the fall of the Turkish lira.
But President Erdogan, in an uncomfortable position eighteen months before the presidential election, continues to defend his choices.
The Turkish lira has fallen by almost 45% in one year
The rise in consumer prices, more than seven times greater than the government’s initial target, at 13.58% in December alone, is explained by the drop of nearly 45% in the Turkish lira against the dollar in one year, despite the emergency measures announced by the Head of State in mid-December.
Aware of the damage caused not only to the economy but also to his confidence rating, Mr. Erdogan had promised in early January to “bring inflation back to single digits as soon as possible”.
Because these data are the subject of a bitter political battle: the opposition and part of the population accuse the National Statistics Office (Tüik) of knowingly underestimating the rise in prices, fueled by the economic policy of the president which has prompted the Turkish central bank to systematically lower interest rates in recent months.
Erdogan also appointed former Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag as the new justice minister to replace veteran ruling party member Abdulhamit Gul.
“The Minister of Justice is replaced, the president of the Tüik (National Statistics Office) is sacked before the new inflation figures are published: we do not know why,” the former deputy prime minister wrote on Twitter. Ali Babacan, who left Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) to found the Democracy and Progress Party (Deva).
Inflation data for January is due out on Thursday.
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