Main opposition CHP questions sustainability of growth figures

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) spokesperson Faik Öztrak on Dec. 2 voiced the party’s dubiousness about recently announced economic growth figures, saying the growth did not generate any employment.

“At this point, where we pay credits with credits, there is no [economic] growth. The whole world agrees that economic revival will happen with the increase in the incomes of the most fragile segments,” Öztrak said.

The spokesperson’s remarks came after the Central Executive Board (MYK) meeting of the CHP. The MYK tackled the minimum wages of 2020, the growth figures for the third quarter, unemployment and citizens’ debts, Öztrak conveyed.

Turkey’s economy grew 0.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, breaking three consecutive quarters of contraction from August 2018’s currency crisis.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on Dec. 2 announced that the gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a seasonally and calendar-adjusted 0.4 percent, compared with the second quarter, in its third positive quarter-on-quarter reading in a row.

“We see that the 2 percent increase in third quarter has fallen to 4 per thousand. This raises questions on growth,” Öztrak said.

Öztrak also said that investments have importance both on the quality and sustainability of economic growth.

“You will do investment so that you can offer employment opportunities. This investment is being contracted for the last five quarters,” he said.

The economic growth did not generated employment, according to Öztrak.

“This growth does not do any good for the unemployed. It is useful for a couple of proponents in Istanbul who invested their money in the stock market,” he said.

“The share of compensation of employees in the national income continues to fall, according to the newly announced figures, meaning we pay the employees less every year,” he added.

Regarding minimum wage, Öztrak said that the to-be-determined figures should compensate for the damage caused by the crisis and inflation.

“Then, you should start to negotiate. Otherwise, we cannot accept a practice implementing inflation to the receivables and payables of the state,” he said.

The Minimum Wage Determination Commission met on Dec. 2 to discuss the planned increase in workers’ pay.

“We know that the economic crisis has left 789,000 of our citizens jobless in the last year,” he said, adding that some 78 percent of the unemployed were previously having minimum-wage salaries.