“God help us”: Turkey’s blockade exacerbates financial pain | Business and Economic News

As coronary heart disease cases and deaths increase, the Turkish president has promised people to stay home for almost three weeks and close a lot of business among the country’s most stringent COVID-19 measures.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not announce a stimulus package to offset the economic impact of the new cuts. Due to Turkey’s double-digit inflation, the collapse of the national currency and troubled businesses, many Turks are already struggling financially.

Gozde Aslan, an Istanbul newspaper salesman, said the blockade would be difficult weather.

“We have to bring food to our homes, and we live in a time when everything is very expensive,” he said. “May God help us.”

Erdogan announced on Monday that the “complete shutdown” will begin on Thursday and last until May 17. Residents will be required to stay at home except for grocery shopping and other essential needs, while city trips will only be allowed with permission. Restaurants are allowed to deliver food.

Some businesses and industries will be exempt from closure, including factories, agriculture, health and supply chain and logistics companies. The Interior Ministry also published a list of exempt people, including members of parliament, health workers, law enforcement officials and many others. Tourists are exempt from the 24-hour covered area.

Aslan’s husband and business partner Baris said the Turkish government’s decision came too late, but it was correct. He added: “It is a very difficult decision for the shopkeepers, for the workers. To do this, the state should provide a lot of support.”

Earlier this month, Erdogan announced an extension of short-term pay for pandemic cuts that reduced hours for registered workers. Previously some payments were made to small businesses.

Shoe store manager Burcin Yilmaz has lamented that he will have to close the business again. In the last three months, he said, many shops in the area that had been open for a long time were definitely closed.

“We have to close and wait and finally see what happens,” Yilmaz said.

Erdogan said the number of confirmed cases every day should drop below 5,000 so that Turkey does not “fall behind” when many European countries begin to reopen.

“Otherwise, we will inevitably have a high price in all areas, from tourism to trade and education,” the president said. Turkey relies on tourism to bring in foreign currencies.

Opposition lawmakers blasted the government on Tuesday. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition party, has asked Erdogan to propose a social assistance package that will help closed enterprises and day laborers in Turkey’s informal economy. He also asked for a temporary suspension of the debt enforcement proceedings.

Although he agreed on the need for a blockade, Kilicdaroglu said: “People need to eat. They need to live.”

The government has distributed onions and potatoes this month with great fanfare. It is a clear example of what many Turks suffer as a result of rising food prices and poverty. The World Bank, in a report released on Tuesday, said Turkey’s poverty level had risen from 10.2 per cent in 2019 to 12.2 per cent in 2020.

In March, the Turkish government divided the country into four levels of risk, removed the monitoring of weekend drums, and allowed indoor dining in many provinces. Coronavirus infections increased again, placing most Turkish cities in “very high risk” categories.

Faced with a record number of confirmed cases, Erdogan announced a partial closure in mid-April during the month of Ramadan, which would lead to weekend repatriation work, extended evening hours extensions and the closure of personal restaurants.

Confirmed cases averaged 60,000 a day on the highest week of this month. The country recorded the highest number of deaths per day on April 21, with 362.

The latest statistics from the Ministry of Health report that there have been 37,312 new confirmed cases and 353 deaths. The death toll from Turkey’s pandemic is 38,711.