Government coalition under pressure,

THE government is coming under mounting pressure over soaring prices as a result of the Turkish lira slump.

The Memur-Sen union, representing government workers, demanded the coalition resign over its handling of the currency crisis and criticised its failure to include the biggest trades union federation in discussions.

Meanwhile the left-wing Independence Path said it would protest over the issue in Lefkoşa on Friday — declaring, “We aren’t going to pay the price for this crisis” — and the Trades Union Platform said it would demonstrate over interest rates on Tuesday, outside the Central Bank.

Memur-Sen head Kağan Mındıkoğlu said: “What sort of calculations are being made at meetings between the Finance Minister Serdar Denktaş, National Education Minister Cemal Özyiğit, Economy and Energy Minister Özdil Nami, and Transport and Public Works Minister Tolga Atakan?

“There is clear discrimination because Hür-İş — the union with most members — is not being included.”

The statement questioned why the Prime Ministry and Deputy Prime Ministry budgets were not being cut when the public were being asked to “tighten their belts” and said: “Measures should start from the top, not the bottom. The government should resign immediately.”

Mr Mındıkoğlu added that the minimum wage, which Hürİş has a role in setting, had “melted away” as a result of the crisis, and commented: “Now, even though foreign currency is losing value [against the TL], the prices of gas and fuel are not coming down. We condemn this.”

Consumers’ Association head Hasan Yılmaz Işık echoed calls for the government to ensure recent gains in the lira were reflected in the prices of goods and services in the TRNC.

However leading economists cautioned that it was too early to do so.

Göksel Saydam said price-setting in fuel and power was up to the government, but shops and importers could not cut their prices until stocks imported at higher exchange rates had been exhausted. However, he warned that opportunists should be prevented from exploiting rate fluctuations.

Erdal Güryay said the prospects for exchange rates were unclear because, despite positive news developments, underlying factors such as the budget deficit and unemployment were unchanged, while Okan Veli Şafaklı said market uncertainty persisted because there was still a perception of risk, and this impacted on exchange rates.