As all eyes in Turkey are on foreign exchange rates

We have become a country where the first thing people start doing in the mornings when they wake up is to check foreign exchange rates, even when they are on holiday.

It is crystal clear that the country’s economic problems cannot be solved in an environment where everybody keeps watching the fluctuations of foreign exchange rates at any moment from anywhere on their mobile phones.

Maybe communication channels were not as many and as fast as it is today. Still, I personally don’t remember any period when foreign exchange rates were watched so closely.

I have never gone through a period where almost anybody around me, whether they are interested with the economy or not, keep asking what will happen to the rates.

I witness people asking about foreign currencies during the weekends despite knowing that the rates won’t change on weekends.

This is not a healthy mood and it increases the already-existing anxiety and panic.

The continuous rise in the foreign exchange rates, the fact that no one comes out and stops it creates a conviction that this upward trend can no longer be stopped.

Some claim the rise in the currency to be totally related to global developments, others say this is done by certain countries wanting to put us in a difficult situation. Actually, political contention with certain countries obviously has an effect on the current levels of the foreign exchange rates, but everybody needs to recall that the real determinant is the country’s administration.

Otherwise it will not be possible to solve economic troubles with a view based on fate.

Obviously global economic developments are playing a role on the exchange rates and interest rates.

But what everybody should watch is whether countries similar to us are going through similar situations. Turkey is among the countries whose currencies have suffered the biggest losses in value. We are competing with Venezuela and Iran.

The psychology among the people about the rates needs to be fixed. Someone needs to step in and say stop. And as we have been repeating over and over again there is need for radical measures, a need for concrete decisions and change in attitudes that will create the perception that the facts in the economy are now being seen.

Everybody is affected

I honestly do not believe that people are saying “I am not affected by the rise in the foreign currency.”

Or I don’t believe that those talking like that are in many numbers. The plunge in the Turkish Lira affects everyone. In the end everyone sees that it even affects the price of bread. The lira has plunged to a record low of its history.

At the point where we are, people watch the fast and continuous plunge as if it is a routine development.

But people should become aware that this is not fate and that the lira can recuperate losses.