Turkey: Food prices see another rise as lira falls hard

One of last year's most inflated consumer goods, food products are gearing up for another surge in p…

One of last year's most inflated consumer goods, food products are gearing up for another surge in prices as the Turkish lira continues to fall against the US dollar.

Turkish consumers suffered a staggering financial burden last year when the prices of food products, the main spending item, skyrocketed amid an unusually long drought and subsequent heavy precipitation that damaged the remaining fruits and vegetables in the field.

With the currency dipping to its all-time low, however, consumers' plight has taken a new twist as the prices of main inputs in agricultural production are expected to climb, sounding alarms for a rise in the overall inflation rate as well. According to the most recent Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) data, the inflation rate was 7.14 percent for the month of August, when the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages edged slightly below two-digit figures and rose to 9.71 percent, compared to a year ago.

İbrahim Yetkin, chairman of the Turkish Agriculturalists Association (TZD), said state assistance to food producers has lost its efficiency due to the depreciation of the lira. The lira lost nearly a quarter of its value against the US dollar this year alone, and 50 percent over the last two years. According to Yetkin's earlier remarks, nearly 85 percent of inputs -- including gasoline and seeds -- in the nation's agricultural production are imported from abroad. Even though oil prices have been declining worldwide, distributors in Turkey cannot reflect the decrease in pump prices as much because the largest share of the Turkish gasoline price is charged by the state in indirect taxes.