17 out of every 100 families face debt enforcement proceedings in Turkey, warns MP

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Manisa MP Bekir Başevirgen has made a statement and raised concerns that people in Turkey are trying to live with debt due to economic hardships.

Underlining that especially the citizens in low income groups cannot strike a balance between their income and expenses, CHP MP Başevirgen has announced that 17 out of every 100 families face foreclosure suits due to unpaid debts.

'Credit card debts on the increase'

According to Başevirgen, the total amount of credit card and consumer loan debts of citizens to banks has reached 1 trillion 33 billion Turkish Lira (TRY). The MP has noted that while 812.2 billion TRY of this debt stems from personal loans, 221 billion lira stems from credit cards.

"Over the past week, consumer loans have increased by 2 billion and credit card debts by 2.7 billion lira," Başevirgen has noted.

As of the end of 2021, the number of people on the black list of banks because of their failure to pay off their debts for five years increased by 650 thousand 504 to 4 million 121 thousand 998 people in a year. "Considering that there are nearly 24 million families in Turkey, nearly 17 out of every 100 families face foreclosure sutis", the MP has commented.

'Over 4 million cannot pay their debts'

Citing the 2021 data, Bekir Başevirgen has noted that last year, 1 million 354 people faced debt enforcement proceedings because they could not pay their consumer loan debts on time and 732 thousand people faced debt enforcement proceedings because of credit card debts.

Recalling that the number of people who are put on the black lists of banks because of their failure to pay off their debts for five years increased by 650 thousand 504 to 4 million 121 thousand 998 people in a year, the MP has indicated that when the ones who face debt enforcement proceedings due to both consumer loan and credit card debts are counted as one person, 1 million 704 thousand 412 people faced foreclosure suits filed by banks.

'Starvation line higher than the minimum wage'

Referring to the February 2022 data of the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-İş), CHP Manisa MP Bekir Başevirgen has recalled that the starvation line topped the minimum wage in Turkey by 300 lira last month and increased to 4 thousand 552 lira.

Noting that the poverty line in the country was also over 15 thousand lira in February 2022, the main opposition MP has underlined that "the Türk-İş data on poverty and starvation lines has manifested the reality of the minimum wage just in the second month of the year."

Citing the Türk-İş data further, Başevirgen has noted that the kitchen inflation rate was 7.12 percent monthly and 66.38 percent annually, raising concerns that "in this picture, it is impossible for citizens who cannot eat and sustain their households to pay off their debts to banks."

Concluding his remarks, the CHP MP has expressed fears for a big increase in the number of blacklisted citizens and the ones who face sequestration sent to their houses due to unpaid debts. (HA/SD)