In a statement on social media, Şenkul noted that North Cyprus has become more expensive than many countries in terms of tourism, education, food and beverage, and transportation. “We are approaching the price levels of Western European countries. If this trend continues, it will spell the beginning of the end for our economy”, he stated. Şenkul urged officials to move away from populist measures and prioritise tackling the cost of living over salary hikes.
His full statement reads:
“I am uncertain how aware the economic managers are of this situation or what actions they are taking if they are aware, but our country is increasingly losing its relative price advantage in all areas as it becomes more expensive in foreign currency terms each day. We have become more expensive than most regional countries in tourism, education, food and beverage, and transportation. We are approaching the price levels of Western European countries. Continuing like this will be the beginning of the end for our economy. Those in office must abandon populism and focus on addressing the cost of living rather than increasing salaries. We need to realise that overcoming the economic crisis without any sacrifices is impossible. Until now, we have managed through intense property sales, financial activities funded by unknown sources, and our relative price advantage, but I believe we are now clearly seeing the warning signs ahead.
“If we factor in that we are part of a larger economy offering annual interest rates of 50% in foreign currency and 10-year deposit interest rates of 25%, and due to our own economic mismanagement, we have produced an additional 20% inflation in past years and are estimated to produce an additional 30% inflation this year, the seriousness of our situation becomes even clearer. We must abandon economically irrational practices like “We increased this, we increased that” and collectively find a solution to this trend”.
