Apple has frozen nearly all sales of its products in Turkey amid a rapidly worsening economic crisis in the nation, according to the Turkish version of the company's online store.
If you go to the Apple Store Online from a Turkish IP, everything looks fine until you attempt to place an item in your digital shopping cart. So far, Apple hasn't said a word about the developing situation in Turkey, where inflation in Turkey has surged to nearly 20% as the nation's currency, lira, dropped sharply by at least 15% on Tuesday, InterestingEngineering reports.
Turkey's lira plummets as criticized market policies continue
The value of Turkey's lira fell to a new record low of 13.44 to one U.S. dollar on Tuesday, which was previously unthinkable and far beyond what seemed like a firm "psychological" barrier of 11 lira to one dollar. "Insane where the lira is, but it's a reflection of the insane monetary policy settings Turkey is currently operating under," said Senior Emerging Markets Strategist Tim Ash, in the report. The sell-off happened in the wake of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's defense of his central bank's ongoing contentious interest rate cuts, which have been executed during a record-high rise of double-digit inflation. He said the action was part of an "economic war of independence," turning down calls from global analysts and investors to yield to economic pressure.
Tuesday's inflation, which has reached 20%, has sent the prices of some basic goods (like food) to new unfathomable heights, with roughly 85 million Turkish people suffering from increasingly devalued salaries. This is a horrific time for people in Turkey, and could have ramifications extending for years, or longer. And while hopefully, Tuesday's low will remain the limit of the inflation, all eyes are on the underlying market policies that analysts and other experts say are to blame.
