Turkish Food Prices 20 Pct Higher Than Global Average: Association

Food prices are 20 percent higher than the global average in Turkey due to speculative price-hiking, said Şemsi Kopuz, the head of the Food and Beverages Associations Federation of Turkey (TGDF), adding the country should use imports if it wants to reach its year-end food inflation target of 9 percent.

"Turkish authorities should use the gun of imports to thwart the rise in food prices… If the road to imports opens in specific food products, speculative prices decrease to normal levels and Turkey will most likely reach its food inflation targets" said Kopuz.

He addressed the dramatic rise in food prices in the country, which was around 20 percent higher than the global average.

"Due to harsh weather conditions, we saw significant yield losses in many agricultural products, mainly in cereals and fruits, and this pushed prices up in many products. One week ahead of the holy month Ramadan, the prices are still very high, and this is not normal" he added.

According to Kopuz, the prices were still high due to speculative moves. "There are many people whose main business is not food production, but they stock food products" he said.

Food and beverage prices rose 12.81 percent in May, according to official data, while global food prices fell by 1.4 percent to 166.8 points in May on monthly basis, at its lowest level since September 2009 and as much as 20.7 percent lower than a year earlier, according to UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). The Food Price Index is a trade-weighted index that tracks prices on international markets of five major food commodity groups: cereals, meat, dairy products, vegetable oils and sugar.

(Photo) - Istanbul