Turkey's yearly inflation climbed by the fastest pace in 19 years, jumping to 36.08% in December, official data showed on Monday. The Turkish Statistical Institute said the consumer price index increased by 13.58% in December from the previous month, further eroding peoples' purchasing power. The yearly increase in food prices was 43.8%, the data showed.
The yearly inflation rate was the highest since September 2002. Inflation has been rising in the country while the Turkish lira has been slumping to record lows after the country's central bank _ under pressure from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan _ cut a key interest rate by 5 percentage points in September. The weakened lira has made imports, fuel and everyday items more expensive and has left many in the country of some 84 million struggling to buy food and other basic goods. Many have been purchasing foreign currencies and gold to protect their savings. Last month, Erdogan announced measures to safeguard lira deposits against volatility after the Turkish currency hit an all-time low of 18.36 against the dollar. The lira rebounded following the announcement but has since lost some of those gains. The lira depreciated by around 44% against the dollar last year. Erdogan insists on lowering borrowing costs to boost growth, even though economists argue that higher interest rates is the way to tame soaring prices. Also on Monday, Erdogan announced that Turkey's exports increased by 32.9% in 2021, to reach ''a record'' $225.4 billion. Addressing a group of exporters in a televised speech, Erdogan said the figure amounted to a 7.8% narrowing of Turkey's trade deficit. Turkey would revise its export target for 2022 to $250 billion, he added. Meanwhile, the independent Inflation Research Group, made up of academics and former government officials, put the yearly inflation rate at a much higher 83%. It said consumer prices rose by 19.35% in December compared with November.
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Armed riot police in southern China have paraded four alleged violators of Covid-19 rules through the streets, state media reported on Wednesday (Dec 29), leading to criticism of the government's heavy-handed approach. China banned such public shaming of criminal suspects in 2010 after decades of campaigning by human rights activists, but the practice has resurfaced as local governments struggle to enforce the national zero-Covid policy.
Four masked suspects in hazmat suits - carrying placards displaying their photos and names - were paraded on Tuesday in front of a large crowd in Guangxi region's Jingxi city, state-run Guangxi News said. Photos of the event showed each suspect held by two police officers - wearing face shields, masks and hazmat suits - and surrounded by a circle of police in riot gear, some holding guns. The four were accused of transporting illegal migrants while China's borders remain largely closed due to the pandemic, the newspaper said. Jingxi is near the Chinese border with Vietnam. The public shaming was part of disciplinary measures announced by the local government in August to punish those breaking health rules. Guangxi News said the parade provided a "real-life warning" to the public and "deterred border-related crimes". But it also led to a backlash, with official outlets and social media users criticising the heavy-handed approach. Although Jingxi is "under tremendous pressure" to prevent imported coronavirus cases, "the measure seriously violates the spirit of the rule of law and cannot be allowed to happen again", Communist Party-affiliated Beijing News said on Wednesday. Other suspects accused of illicit smuggling and human trafficking have also been paraded in recent months, according to reports on the Jingxi government website. Videos of a similar parade in November showed a crowd of people watching two prisoners being held while a local official read out their crimes on a microphone. They were then seen marching through the streets in their hazmat suits, flanked by police in riot gear. And in August, dozens of armed police were seen marching a suspect through the streets to a children's playground. |
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