Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday called on companies to lower their prices and cut profits if necessary to help consumers through a difficult economic time, Reuters reported.
“We don’t want [retailers] to sell at a loss. Inflation has decreased to some extent. Despite that the prices of fruits and vegetables are still too high. Is this an ethical business?” Erdoğan said at an economy conference in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
Amid a national currency free fall and high inflation, he repeatedly accused some retailers of “turning the crisis into profit,” and being “opportunists.”
“If there are market [owners] who continues to exploit my people, it is our duty to bring these people to justice,” he added.
Turkey experienced a currency crisis last summer with the lira in free fall against the US dollar, causing inflation to climb to more than 20 percent annually.
Erdoğan also said in a speech in Ankara that US President Donald Trump told him in a phone call on Sunday that Washington would take measures on its tariffs on Turkish steel imports.