President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday announced a 45% increase in wages of state workers, in a move that comes just before Türkiye heads to critical elections this weekend.
The lowest monthly public worker pay will be increased to TL 15,000 ($768), Erdoğan said in televised remarks from the capital Ankara.
The increase comes as part of a framework called the Public Collective Bargaining Agreement Protocol that addresses public workers' economic and social rights.
"With this protocol, we are determining the framework of the pay that approximately 700,000 of our brothers will receive in 2023-2024," he said.
"We are raising wages by 45%, including the welfare share," he noted. "Thus, we are increasing the minimum wage of public workers to TL 15,000."
Erdoğan emphasized that the government would continue to work on minimum wage raises for civil servants and hiking pensions.
"In July, we have preparations based on the inflation difference and welfare share," he added.
Erdoğan stressed that citizens would not be allowed to "be crushed" under inflation, which has been easing over the last six months.
Annual consumer price increases moderated further in April, a trend the government says is expected to continue.
According to official data, the consumer price index (CPI) has almost halved from its peak in October last year, easing to an annual 43.68% last month.
The reading marks a notable regress from 85.51% in October – a 24-year peak. It fell in December and touched 50.51% by March, with a favorable base effect and a relatively stable Turkish lira.
Curbing price increases has been the top priority for the government ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections slated for May 14, seen as the most crucial vote in the centurylong history of the republic.
Erdoğan has said inflation is currently high, highlighting that it has decreased significantly in recent months and will continue to do so.
The government has sought to safeguard households through various measures, significantly raising the minimum wage, lifting state salaries, offering debt relief and hiking pensions for millions.
It also put forward energy price cuts for households and industries, besides an arrangement allowing early retirement for over 2 million workers.
Separately, Labor and Social Security Minister, Vedat Bilgin, late on Monday said the minimum wage would be increased to at least $500 as of July, a level he said would ensure "real purchasing power" is protected.
It would mark a second increase this year, following a 55% hike in January to TL 8,500.
Erdoğan has repeatedly said his government would not reverse the course of its economic policies and would keep favoring lower interest rates if they win the upcoming elections.
Officials have asserted that the government would continue pursuing the economic program, dubbed the "Türkiye Economy Model" and unveiled in 2021, prioritizing low-interest rates to boost exports, production, investment and new jobs. The program eventually aims to lower inflation by flipping the country’s chronic current account deficit to a surplus.
A coalition of six Turkish opposition parties has pledged to roll back current economic policies should they win the elections.
Erdoğan says high rates cause inflation and has advocated lower borrowing costs. He has said the new economic model would yield results in 2023.
Last year, the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) cut its benchmark one-week repo rate by 500 basis points to counter an economic slowdown and held it at 9% in December and January.
It trimmed it by another 50 basis points in February to boost industrial production and employment after the devastating earthquakes before it left the key policy unchanged in March and April.
Erdoğan has repeatedly stressed that interest rates would continue falling as long as he is in power.
