What the papers say
HAVADİS editor Başaran Düzgün dwelt this week on the TL crisis and “things that can be done by the government”.
Writing on Thursday, he revealed that the publication had received notice of a $3,000 fine from the Broadcasting Supreme Council, with the warning of an additional 2 per cent penalty if they did not pay on time.
He commented that they would pay up, but that he could not understand why the fine was pitched in dollars, or why there was an additional late payment penalty, also therefore in dollars, “at a time when the TL was in a state of meltdown”.
Mr Düzgün wrote: “The Broadcasting Supreme Council is a small department with a small number of staff who are paid in TL. So why dollars?”
This, he said, was an example of the government charging people in a foreign currency.
“They say: what can the TRNC government do if the TL is losing value?
“That’s true. It is our government that does not have its own currency. It is our government that does not have a sway over its Central Bank. And its budget is impoverished.
“So what can it do? The other day economist Professor Mustafa Besim listed what the government can do. Import tariffs need to be fixed. Import duty for goods imported from Turkey need to be paid in TL. Government fees need to be in TL.”
Based on those suggestions, said Mr Düzgün, the Broadcasting Supreme Council ought to convert its dollar fees to TL.
He added: “From what [Dr Besim] said, we understand that even when goods are imported from Turkey, the duty is in a foreign currency. Last year the TRNC imported goods worth $983 million from Turkey.”
The steps suggested by the economist were ones that could be taken immediately, said the writer, while the tourism sector which will benefit from the recent foreign currency fluctuations could be the source of financing for measures to protect the country’s people.
He concluded by commenting: “We have banned the construction of any more five-star hotels in Girne but the existing ones still get incredible subsidies. And they do not pay a TL in tax.”