Turkey: May God Give Salvation To Anyone Who Gets A Credit Card
Erdogan has lately been blaming an “interest-rate lobby” for sparking unrest and manipulating markets, Peker says.
Tuesday, during an address in Ankara to break the Ramadan fast, he narrowed his attack to greedy citizens:
May God give them salvation, they love getting their hands on a credit card, as if that will let them show off,” Mr. Erdogan said. “Then the salary is spent before month’s end, there is interest payments, etc. This is a big game being played [on Turkey], we need to get together and disrupt it. If everyone can learn cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth, they [the interest rate lobby and credit card issuers] won’t see this money.
Consumer lending is soaring in Turkey, Peker notes: credit expanded 25% in June, nearly double last year's pace.
The government continues to crack down on civil disobedience — authorities arrested about 30 yesterday and briefly detained more than 1,000, the Jerusalem Post reports.