Turkey: Erdogan's re-election could be hit by inflation, food shortage

Ankara [Turkey], July 6 : With each passing day, Turkey's economic crisis is worsening and has caused many problems for the people due to food shortage, low wages, and high farming costs.
This has led to protests against the incumbent Turkish President Recep Erdogan. This is not good news for Erdogan, who is seeking another
presidential term in the elections to be held next year.
Inflation in the country is at an alarming stage, the country's currency spiralling down fast and COVID-19 cases are rising here, all of these factors are likely to be detrimental to Erdogan's prospects of
re-election.
Turkish Statistical Institute on Monday announced that country's annual inflation has surged to 78.62 per cent in June, the highest since 1998.
It said the consumer prices increased by 4.95 per cent month-on-month in June, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks increased 93.93 per cent, while furnishings and household equipment prices were up 81.14 per cent, according to the official statistics, the news agency reported.
The domestic producer price index climbed 6.77 per cent month-on-month in June, with an annual rise of 138.31 per cent. Turkey's annual inflation was 73.5 per cent in May, it added.
"Higher input prices reflected rising raw material costs, increased energy charges and unfavourable exchange rates. Raw material shortages contributed to a further lengthening of suppliers' delivery times," Andrew Harker, Economics Director, S&P Global Market Intelligence has said, according to Financial Post.
According to Financial Post, there is a food shortage across Turkey and food prices have doubled from a year ago. Fertilizer prices increased by 233-344 per cent in just one year. So did the fodder prices- by 130 per cent.
Moreover, higher taxes on fuel have added to the agriculture woes since farmers mostly rely on diesel to operate farm machinery and their crop produce.
The Erdogan government has admitted that the cost of living has increased while it has no solution in sight.
The President has declared that he would contest the election again. However, the recently held polls showed that he would not be able to win, Finacial Post reported. About 58 per cent of first-time voters said they would not vote for Erdogan, it added.
The higher and uncontrolled inflation and slumping lira, which have crumbled the middle-class' budget as well as industrial output; appear to be the reason, voters in Turkey would not support Erdogan.
"Turkey witnessed democratic backsliding, corruption and media curbs during Erdogan's rule," Policy Research Group has said.