18.03.2026 15:12
DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan stated that due to the inflation being reported lower than the reality by TÜİK between 2018-2023, minimum wage earners, civil servants, and retirees have been victimized, saying, "All of our citizens with fixed incomes have accumulated receivables from the state."
Ali Babacan, the leader of the DEVA Party, who served as the Minister of Economy for many years during the AK Party governments and led the team that prepared the budget for 11 years, brought up a striking claim that concerns millions of workers and retirees. Appearing on the "Açık Açık" program broadcasted on the FinanceZone YouTube channel, Babacan declared the state "indebted to the citizens" based on the past inflation data of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).
"THE BILL FOR 5 YEARS OF INCORRECT MEASUREMENT HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO THE CITIZENS"
Babacan stated that he finds TÜİK's recent data more realistic compared to the past, emphasizing that the main issue occurred during the 5-year period between 2018 and 2023. He argued that inflation was intentionally reported as low during this period, indicating that the rights of civil servants, workers, and retirees, whose salary increases are determined based on the inflation rate, were violated.
Babacan mentioned that even though the data has shown a tendency to improve in recent years, the past 5 years of incorrect calculations have created a permanent hole in the citizens' pockets, and this loss should be seen as a "debt" of the state to the citizens.
"WE ALL HAVE RECEIVABLES, LET'S NOT FORGET THIS"
Using clear expressions regarding the mentioned period, Babacan included the following statements in his remarks:
"For the last few years, I find TÜİK's inflation data more reliable compared to the past, especially for the 2018-2023 period. Of course, this means that more reliable data indicates that our minimum wage earners, retirees, civil servants, and all our fixed-salary employees have accumulated receivables. Let's not forget this. So, even though inflation has been attempted to be measured more accurately in recent years, people have significant receivables from previous years. The state has debts to the citizens, absolutely. In other words, we all have receivables from the period when inflation was incorrectly measured and reported as lower than the reality between 2018-2023."