An official in charge of compiling Turkish inflation statistics has stepped down, the latest prominent departure at an institution that’s facing harsh criticism over the reliability of its economic data, reported Bloomberg.
Three Scourges of Turkish Economy: Unemployment, Inflation, and External Deficit
The Turkish Statistical Institute said Cem Bas resigned as head of the department of price statistics for health reasons. Furkan Metin, who previously oversaw the digital transformation and projects department at the agency known as TurkStat, has replaced Bas, who’ll remain on staff in a lower-profile role.
The personnel change adds to a period of tumult at TurkStat, whose president was replaced in January less than a year after his appointment. Inflation data are in the spotlight at a time when consumer prices are growing at the fastest in two decades, a key concern for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government just over a year before elections.
Anti-AKP media channels in Turkey report Bas had asked for his resignation, because he was tired of the pressure by higher-ups and government officials to fudge inflation data. Other sources claim, Bas, like some other civil servants got freight of the threat issues by main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu about prosecuting civil servants who obeyed unlawful orders.
The resignation mars the reputation of Turkstat further, with a recent poll revealing two-thirds of participants perceiving inflation over 100% vs. 70%, the official CPI. The stats agency suffered another humiliating defeat, when an Ankara court acquitted ENAG, a private inflation data disseminator, of unfair competition with the agency.
Tylor Dilson, Staff Reporter
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