Turkish Cypriots fears economy will collapse as TL nosedives

Fears about the collapse of the TRNC economy have increased since the Turkish Lira devalued to 7TL against the Pound sterling.

The Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce said that the price of sterling has reached breaking point and businessmen, tradesmen and the people do not know how to pay off their debts.

The increase not only against sterling, but also the dollar and euro has reached frightening proportions writes Turkish Cypriot daily ‘Kibris’. 

The chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Turgut Deniz had expressed the view that the increasing strength of foreign currency against the Turkish lira was a disaster for small economies such as the one in North Cyprus. If the rate goes to 7.5TL the results would be devastating for the TRNC economy.

Devaluation of the TL will continue, economists Zeki Besiktepeli and Okan Safakli have warned.

Besiktepeli said that the Turkish Cypriots should adopt the euro, salaries should be paid in a foreign currency or Turkey should pay the inflation’s deficit. 

If these do not happen, the economy will collapse, he argued.

Safakli noted that the increase in the prices of the foreign currencies cannot be prevented, but measures could be taken on how this increase affects the people.

Kibris