Istanbul- Will Istanbul become more expensive than Manhattan in the United States? A question posed by the Governor of the Turkish Central Bank, Ghaya Arkan, who shed light on the high rent prices and high prices in the Turkish city, which prompted her to move to live with her mother, after she was unable to find a house at a suitable price.
Arkan’s speech received widespread interaction on social media platforms, and she saw, in her interview with the Turkish newspaper “Hurriyet”, that the solution lies in increasing the number of social housing units that the state is building, which is what Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his aides are currently working on.
The governor of the Turkish Central Bank criticized citizens who seek to buy a large number of homes, saying that one person should not have 10 homes, but rather every 10 people should have one home.
It is noteworthy that Arkan assumed the position of president of the Turkish Central Bank last June, as its fifth president in the last 4 years. She previously held the positions of co-CEO of the American First Republic Bank and general manager of the American Goldman Sachs Bank.
Arkan’s statements came a week after a tweet by the Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Simsek, in which he said that rental prices had begun to decline, especially in major cities, indicating that the housing supply would increase further next year, which opened a wide door of discussion and criticism.
The pioneers of social media platforms in Turkey circulated statements of Arkan’s anger, wondering about the situation of the ordinary citizen, while the governor of the Turkish Bank, whose monthly salary reaches 161 thousand Turkish liras ($5,544), complains about the high prices.
A representative in the Turkish Parliament for the opposition Democratic Party, Cemal Enginort, commented: “Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said that house rents in major cities are tending to decline, while the Central Bank Governor says that she was unable to find a house in Istanbul due to high prices and moved to live in the city.” With her mother, the country’s economy is in their trust. They are economists who do not know each other.”
Maliye Bakanı Mehmet Şimşek:”Büyükşehirler de ev kiraları düşüş eğiliminde”
Merkez Bankası Başkanı Hafize Gaye Erkan: “İstanbul’da ev bulamadık, müthiş pahalı;
It’s easy to use.
Birbirinden habersiz economistler.— Cemal Enginyurt (@cenginyurt52) December 16, 2023
On the other hand, Turkish journalist Meliha Okur wondered about the real reason behind the central bank director moving to live with her mother, denying the possibility that she was unable to pay the rent for the house.
She said: “Why does the governor of the Turkish Bank live with her mother? I could not find out. She is not in a position that does not allow her to pay the rent. Her husband works as an investment fund manager, and he also worked at the highest level in very important banks..”
MBı Başkanı niye annesinin evinde oturuyor? Bir türlü çözemedim. This will be the first day. This may be difficult for you to use. You can also use your bank account when it comes to your account. Katar’ın and kritik fonunu yönetti. What’s wrong with me? @hafizegayeerkan
– Meliha Okur (@melihaokur2) December 16, 2023
New methods
Economic affairs researcher, Muhammad Abu Alyan, said in a comment to Al Jazeera Net that the statement of the Turkish Central Governorate comes in the context of talking about the difficulty of addressing the inflation problem that the country is suffering from through traditional methods alone, as the Turkish Central Bank has adopted a policy of monetary tightening since the middle of this year.
He adds that this means that addressing the problem of high rents in Istanbul requires other methods in addition to economic methods.
Abu Alyan sees an urgent need to work to maintain the stability of the lira’s exchange rate at the current level and prevent its deterioration, as the exchange rate is closely linked to the value of rents through real estate owners linking the rental value to foreign currencies, so any deterioration in the value of the local currency will lead to an increase in the value of the lira. Rentals.
He calls on the Turkish government to intervene to increase the amount of housing units offered in the Turkish market, whether through facilitating construction for citizens or construction companies, or to intensify the construction of social housing units that it is currently implementing.
Abu Alyan said that Arkan’s statements may be a negative indicator for the Turkish economy in general, and may be followed by effective government measures and policies to resolve the crisis through new economic methods and methods, and carry out real and effective structural reforms.
Follow the exchange rate
In a previous interview he conducted with Al Jazeera Net, the Turkish Minister of Trade, Omar Polat, avoided defining the decline in the value of the Turkish lira as a crisis, attributing this to the Turkish government’s continuous follow-up of exchange rate developments in terms of price stability, financial stability and external balance, and also pointing out that the path of the Turkish lira It has become more stable, especially recently, which indicates the opposite of the description of the crisis.
The minister pointed out that the effects of the steps taken by the Turkish Central Bank, such as the policy of monetary tightening to ensure price stability and financial stability, have begun to appear, which is observed through the slowdown in domestic demand for foreign currencies and the decrease in the rate of increase in inflation.
The Turkish minister expected that the annual rate of increase in the consumer price index would reach 65% at the end of the year, while the government aims to reduce it to 15.2% in 2025, and 8.5% at the end of 2026.
A study published by the Turkish University of Bahçeşehir last August said that rents rose 121% in all Turkish cities over the past year, while the rise reached 188% in major cities such as Ankara, Istanbul, and Izmir.
Recently, disputes between landlord and tenant due to high rents have led to an increase in lawsuits before the courts.
