(Bloomberg) --

Turkey’s accelerating inflation has pushed the poverty threshold to four times the minimum wage, according to a report by one of the nation’s biggest labor organizations. 

Food inflation surged 7% in July from a month earlier, taking the poverty threshold for a four-member family to 22,280 liras ($1,243) per month, the Turk-Is labor confederation said on Saturday. That’s about four times the monthly minimum wage, which was raised by 30% to 5,500 liras at the start of July. 

The labor group defines poverty threshold as the total of spending for items including food, clothing, housing, transportation, education and health care. Its “hunger threshold” gauge, which measures monthly food spending, rose to 6,840 liras, 24% higher than the minimum wage.

Turkey’s central bank kept the benchmark rate unchanged at 14% for a seventh month in July. Inflation will surge to 80.1% in July from 78.6% in June, according to the median estimate of 17 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The statistics office will publish the data for this month on Aug. 3. 

Turkish Inflation Crisis Rages But Central Banker Isn’t Blinking

The central bank expects inflation to end the year at 60.4%, about 12 times the official target of 5%. The bank sees inflation slowing to 19.2% by the end of 2023 and to 8.8% in 2024.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.