Big news broke out yesterday for Apple enthusiasts in Turkey. The Cupertino-based company has temporarily suspended online sales of its devices in Turkey. This is a direct response to the country’s economic crisis. The ongoing crisis is due to a controversial monetary policy enabled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Apple has not announced an official halt to the sales, however, online shopping is temporarily unavailable due to economic instability in the region. We don’t expect relief from the country’s situation, so Apple is likely keeping this policy for a while.
While the online storefront is currently live and displays complete product listings, specifications, and prices, customers are unable to add items to their cart. Instead, the website reports nearly all devices as unavailable. Turkey’s lira crashed 15 percent on Tuesday, a day after Erdogan said there would be no backing down from a contentious monetary policy that has seen the country’s central bank slashed interest rates amid soaring inflation. The lira traded at a record low of 13.44 to the dollar before recovering to 12.86 against the dollar later in the days.
Gizchina News of the week
Apple answers to the growing economic crisis in Turkey
So far the lira lost 45 percent of its value this year, dropping around 22 percent in the last week alone. The selloff comes as a direct response to the president’s push to cut rates. His goal is to bolster exports, investment, and jobs, as per the original report from Reuters. So far, the inflation rates are hovering at close to 20 percent. As usual, it dramatically increases the price of goods and also evaluates Turks’ earnings.
The Turkish lira is equivalent to approximately 0.078 U.S. dollars at the current time. Its value has been steadily falling since the last week as we mentioned above.
For now, there is no word when Apple will resume its sales in the country. However, with the current economic policy, we don’t think it will not resume sales for the time being.
Usually, when inflation is rising, the direct move adopted by economic authorities is raising the interest rates. However, when it comes to Turkey, the government is doing the opposite. With the devalued lira, Erdogan believes that its exporting will be benefited in the country. But this isn’t enough to sustain the whole economy. Moreover, it brings a number of issues for the citizens in the country as inflation is reducing their purchasing power gradually.
