RFE
01 Dec 2021, 04:15 GMT+10
The sharp weakening of Turkey's national currency, the lira, is hitting Turkmen labor migrants whose families back home depend on remittances.
The lira has lost more than 40 percent against the dollar since May as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pushes a low interest rate policy despite rampant inflation. The central bank has slashed its policy rate by 400 basis points since September despite annual inflation around 20 percent.
The lira was down again on November 30, trading at around 13 to the U.S. dollar. That compares to May when it was at around 8.6 to the U.S. currency.
Several families in Turkmenistan told RFE/RL that their relatives working in Turkey are unable to send money to them because of the lira's drop in value.
SEE ALSO: Turkmenistan To Make It More Difficult For People To Get Subsidized Food
Part of the problem, they say, is that food and everyday necessities in Turkey have risen in price, leaving the labor migrants with no extra money to send home. Another issue is the rising cost of exchanging lira for dollars, the only major currency that is possible to transfer to Turkmenistan from abroad.
A mother of two in the southeastern region of Mary told an RFE/RL correspondent on condition of anonymity that her husband says he isn't able to earn enough in Turkey to support himself let alone send money back.
Turkey has long been the main destination for Turkmen labor migrants to earn money as their own country, one of the most secretive and closed in the world, endures dramatic economic hardships. Several other Central Asian nations are facing a similar situation with regard to falling remittances, a key factor in their economies.
According to the latest figures published by Turkey's Migration Service, Turkmen citizens rank second after Iraqis in terms of the number of foreign nationals granted residence permits in Turkey in 2021. It is estimated that in 2021 alone, almost 118,000 Turkmen nationals have received residence permits in Turkey.
In July, sources close to the Turkmen government told RFE/RL that some 2.8 million people currently reside in the country, while officially the tightly controlled former Soviet republic's population is more than 6 million.
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Republished with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Washington DC 20036
Get a daily dose of Mexico Star news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Mexico Star.
More InformationRecent research has linked playing video games in childhood with an increase in intelligence. While parents and carers may be ...
New York [US], May 23 (ANI/Xinhua): New York City, the most populous city in the United States, has entered into ...
Lahore [Pakistan], May 23 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has issued a warning against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Chairman Imran ...
Beijing [China], May 23 (ANI): The United States has said it was "deeply concerned" about United Nations High Commissioner for ...
New Delhi [India], May 23 (ANI): In a major relief, the Centre on Monday relaxed family pension rules for missing ...
The Ukraine war and other conflicts pushed the number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and ...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: In a letter released this week, the archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, said U.S. House Speaker ...
BERLIN, Germany: At least 43 people were injured after a tornado struck the western German city of Paderborn on May ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The Department of Justice has said that an American citizen and four Chinese intelligence officers have been charged ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: Due to the inability of businesses to hire enough workers, the U.S. has announced that it will grant ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: U.S. senators Elizabeth Warren and Mike Rounds have introduced a bipartisan resolution requesting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ...
MOSCOW, Russia: According to preliminary data released by the finance ministry this week, almost three months after Moscow's invasion of ...