President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday announced that Türkiye would be cutting electricity and natural gas prices while also pledging an increase in the minimum wage.
Electricity prices will be lowered by 15%, and gas prices for industrial users will be reduced by 20% in April, Erdoğan told the lawmakers from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in Parliament.
The move comes as Türkiye heads toward presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for May 14.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Erdoğan said the government plans to announce a mid-year increase in the minimum wage.
Erdoğan on Tuesday met with Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Bilgin, who also hinted at a hike.
Bilgin said the government would evaluate whether there is a need for such an arrangement and also consider the downward trend in inflation.
The government has tripled the minimum wage in the past year, raised state salaries, offered debt relief and hiked pensions for millions to ease the economic pressure on households.
Türkiye’s annual inflation fell to 55.18% in February, marking a notable regress from the peak of 85.5% – a 24-year high – registered last October.
The government in January increased the minimum wage by 55% for 2023, and Erdoğan said it might be hiked again throughout the year if necessary.
In another significant move, he announced an arrangement that eliminates an age requirement and offers early retirement to millions of citizens.
Approved by Parliament earlier this month, the measure that will allow over 2 million workers to retire in the first stage has been one of the key election pledges of the ruling party.
Erdoğan said the government would increase each person’s monthly minimum pension payment to TL 7,500 ($390) from TL 5,500.
A parliamentary commission on Monday accepted a draft bill that includes the hike estimated to cost the state TL 150 billion this year.
The government last year introduced several relief measures to help cushion the fallout from inflation, including a cap on rent increases, reduced taxes on utility bills and the unveiling of a significant housing project for low-income families.
Meanwhile, Erdoğan on Wednesday also said they would hold a ceremony in April that would mark the start of pumping the gas Türkiye discovered in the Black Sea into the national grid.
It has gradually discovered about 710 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas since August 2020. The reserve in the Sakarya gas field is estimated to have a market value of $1 trillion.
Türkiye initially planned to start pumping the gas by the end of March but delayed it because of the catastrophic earthquakes that ripped through the southeastern region last month.
About 10 million cubic meters (mcm) of Black Sea gas per day is expected to be transferred in the initial phase, while the infrastructure has been set up to enable this figure to peak at 40 mcm through 2026.
Furthermore, Erdoğan said Akkuyu would be officially granted the nuclear facility status after the fuel loading process in late April.
Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant is being built by Russia’s state atomic energy company Rosatom on the southern Mediterranean coastline.
The plant, whose first of four reactors is scheduled to go online in the first half of this year, will have a total capacity of 4,800 megawatts, providing about 10% of Türkiye’s electricity needs.
The remaining three reactors are due to start operation by the end of 2026 at a rate of one per year.
It’s estimated to cost $20 billion. Rosatom has a 99.2% stake in the project and is contracted to build, maintain, operate and decommission the plant.
In addition, Erdoğan said they would be announcing much more good news in April, spearheaded by defense industry projects, from Hürjet to TCG Anadolu ship.
Hürjet is a domestically produced jet trainer and light attack aircraft. It is designed to play a critical role by using its superior performance features with its single-engine, tandem, and cockpit with a modern avionics suite.
The multipurpose amphibious assault ship and flagship-to-be, the TCG Anadolu, represents the largest and one of the most critical projects in the history of the Turkish defense industry.
The landing helicopter dock (LHD) type ship has undergone sea trials. It is planned to be delivered to the Naval Forces Command soon.
