Turkish retailers announce discounts, price freezes to tame inflation

Sok would freeze prices of around 1,000 basic consumer goods in January. A101 said last week it would freeze prices of 2,023 basic goods throughout the month. CarrefourSA is offering discounts of 20-40 per cent on 20,000 products this month.

Highlighting its ‘anti-inflation commitment’, Migros issued a statement announcing it was fixing prices of 419 of its own goods and was offering discounts on prices of over 3,000 products. It also froze prices of many basic goods this month.

Happy Center also said it would make discounts of up to 20 per cent on food and non-food items.

A 55 per cent raise in the official minimum wage for 2023 was announced. The government has tripled the minimum wage in the past year, raised state salaries and hiked pensions for millions to ease the pressure on households stemming mostly from soaring inflation.

It has been building pressure on businesses to do more to curb skyrocketing prices that moderated over the last two months after hitting a 24-year high in October, according to Turkish media reports.

“I am calling on both national and local markets not to increase or fix prices for a certain period. We are ready to provide any kind of contribution," the minister said, adding that there are still retailers who don't abide by government orders.

Trade minister Mehmet Mus and Nebati separately met top executives of leading retailers recently. Mus warned that the government would never allow unfair price hikes aimed at disrupting market order and functioning.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)