Levent Gürses
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced September inflation figures on the last day of the week. According to these figures, the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 33.29 percent annually and 3.23 percent monthly. Thus, inflation exceeded expectations. According to ENAG, inflation was 3.79 percent on a monthly basis and 63.23 percent on an annual basis. It was noteworthy that the difference in inflation between ENAG and TurkStat was close to double on an annual basis.
Economists had predicted that inflation would increase by 2.47 percent on a monthly basis. September inflation came out at 3.23 percent, which was excessively high.
Prof. Dr. Hayri Kozanoğlu stated that seasonal increases in education, food, and clothing-footwear prices pushed inflation up, adding, ‘The inflation target of below 30 percent by the end of 2025 has also fallen through. In short, the disinflation programme is not going well.’
Economist Mustafa Sönmez said, ‘Education played the leading role in September inflation, with a monthly increase of 18 percent and an annual increase of 66 percent. In September, food prices rose by 4.6 percent and exceeded 36 percent annually.’
Our agenda: concessions made to the US and dashed expectations
Throughout the week, the Trump-Erdoğan meeting and its repercussions were discussed. US President Donald Trump’s economic demands on Turkey were excessive. Following President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the US last week, the engines for the KAAN fighter jet, the delivery of blocked F-35 fighter jets, the purchase of 225 passenger aircraft from Boeing, the demand to halt oil and natural gas purchases from Russia, the agreement for LNG purchases over 20 years, the protocol signed on cooperation regarding nuclear power plants, the removal of additional import duties applied to certain items in the US prior to the visit, and the corresponding increase on Chinese products.
Something “needs to be done” about the S-400 for the F-35
Regarding the F-35s, which were excluded from the project and not delivered because we purchased the S-400 air defence system from Russia even though we paid for it, US President Trump, referring to President Erdoğan in response to a question about lifting sanctions (CAATSA) on this issue, said, “Let’s see, he needs to do something for us,” was interpreted as meaning that a solution needed to be found regarding the S-400s, which we acquired in 2019 but are still not using.
Because Turkey purchased the S-400 system from Russia for $2.5 billion, the US not only withheld the F-35 aircraft, for which Turkey had paid approximately $1.4 billion, but also removed Turkey from the production programme. Turkey was producing around a thousand parts for the F-35, and this production would have contributed $10-15 billion to the economy. The US gave the production of these parts to other countries.
Experts state, ‘Returning to the F-35 programme as a manufacturer is one thing, but procuring these aircraft is quite another,’ and comment: “They have filled our void with European manufacturers. For us to return as a manufacturing partner, the project contract must be renewed and new legislation must be passed in the US. In this scenario, we could be defined as a customer rather than a manufacturer. However, the conditions for this were stated as participating in sanctions against Heybeliada and Russia.”
We are experts on Hakan Fidan and the KAAN’s engine
The KAAN issue was truly interesting. It turned out that the KAAN, which was promoted as a domestic and national fighter jet, did not have engines.
The incident can be summarised as follows:
On 27 September, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced at Türkevi in New York that the licences for the engines to be supplied to KAAN, Turkey’s fifth-generation fighter jet produced with domestic capabilities, had been suspended by the US. Fidan’s statements sparked debate. The agreement to sell 48 KAANs to Indonesia came to the fore. It was announced that the KAANs to be delivered to Indonesia would use domestic engines, expected to be integrated by 2032, and that deliveries would take place until 2035.
Foreign Minister Fidan stated:
“We are currently awaiting the F-35 and KAAN engines. They are being held up in the US Congress and their licences have been suspended. Their licences need to be activated and the engines need to arrive so that production of the KAANs can begin.”
In response, on 28 September, Defence Industry President Haluk Görgün said that the serial production of the KAAN was planned with domestic engines, not foreign ones, and that development activities were continuing successfully.
Görgün said:
“Development activities for the TF35000 main engine and APU60 auxiliary power unit of the KAAN fighter jet are continuing successfully. The process always works this way in the defence industry. We start with existing engines, then national engine projects are brought into play. We are also producing KAAN using a block approach. In other words, we are gradually developing it by adding versions with different capabilities at different stages to our inventory. In this context, there is no delay in the delivery schedule for our KAAN fighter jet.”
“To avoid putting our mass production at risk, we do not rely on a single source; we work with different supply channels and evaluate alternatives simultaneously,’ said Görgün, adding, ‘KAAN’s future is in no way dependent on the engine of a single country. We trust our engineers.”
In fact, the debate over KAAN’s engines once again highlighted the country’s economic dependence on the US, particularly in the arms industry.
Trump: Do not purchase oil and gas from Russia
Trump also requested that Turkey refrain from purchasing gas and oil from Russia. However, Russia is Turkey’s primary supplier of oil and natural gas imports. In 2024, Russia will account for 66 per cent of total oil imports and 41 per cent of natural gas imports, which we receive via two pipelines.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov responded to Trump’s call: “Turkey is a sovereign state that decides for itself in which areas it will cooperate with Russia. TurkStream is operating at full capacity. The Blue Stream pipeline is operating at full capacity. We are continuing our commercial and economic cooperation with the Republic of Turkey. Turkey decides for itself which types of trade are beneficial to it and will continue this trade as long as it is beneficial.”
The cost of US LNG is $43 billion over 20 years
On the other hand, a report in the conservative US newspaper The Wall Street Journal stated that the cost of LNG Turkey will purchase from the US will total $43 billion under a 20-year agreement. The newspaper reported, ‘This agreement could help reduce the country’s dependence on Russian energy.’
A day before the two leaders’ meeting in New York, an LNG supply agreement was signed between BOTAŞ, the state organisation responsible for Turkey’s oil and gas infrastructure and gas trade, and Mercuria, one of the world’s largest independent integrated energy and commodity groups.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said, ‘Today, we signed an agreement that will enable the supply of approximately 70 billion cubic metres of natural gas equivalent from US sources over the next 20 years.’
Experts emphasise that the cost of US LNG is considerably higher than pipeline gas supplied from Russia and other countries.
65.6 billion dollars for energy imports in 2024
On the other hand, Karar newspaper writer İbrahim Kahveci said, ‘Turkey paid 65.6 billion dollars for energy imports in 2024. This means that approximately half of this went to Russia.’
Kahveci stated that Turkey imported 16,900 tonnes of its 30,000 tonnes of crude oil imports in 2024 from Russia, saying in his article:
“Turkey paid $65.6 billion for energy imports in 2024. This means that approximately half of this went to Russia. However, there is also diesel fuel imports… Of the total diesel fuel imports of 13,700 tonnes, 11,300 tonnes (83.0%) were again imported from Russia. Our imports of petroleum and petroleum products from Russia reached a total of 32,200 tonnes. Of the annual imports of 48,700 tonnes, 66.1% were imported from Russia. Following Russia are Iraq with 4,796 tonnes, Kazakhstan with 2,981 tonnes, and Saudi Arabia with 1,921 tonnes,” he wrote.
Kahveci added, “In short, Turkey’s main dependence on Russia in terms of energy was realised after the war in Ukraine… After the attack on Ukraine, we practically financed Russia. Let’s revisit our dependency rate on Russia for oil and oil derivatives: 2021=24.2%; 2022=40.8%; 2023=51.0%; 2024=66.1%…”
Iraq pipeline begins operations
Following the visit to Washington, another development on the energy front was the resumption of oil flow through the Iraq-Turkey Crude Oil Pipeline.
The Ministry of Energy announced that oil flow had resumed through the pipeline, which had been temporarily closed due to the earthquakes on 6 February 2023 and was made operational by BOTAŞ on 4 October 2023. The Iraqi side also stated that oil produced in the north of the country would be exported to world markets via the Ceyhan Port through the aforementioned pipeline.
Boeing debate, our aircraft count will approach a thousand
The Boeing issue is also interesting; although it was a previously planned purchase decision, it was finalised after the Washington visit. In fact, Trump had already made the announcement of a ‘large Boeing purchase’ before Erdoğan went to Washington.
THY has placed a firm order for 50 787 Dreamliner aircraft under its agreement with Boeing. There is also an option for 25 more. In addition to these orders, negotiations have been completed for 150 737-8/10 Max models. This package includes 100 firm orders and 50 options, totalling 225 aircraft.
THY had also placed an order for 230 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft from Airbus in 2023. THY and AJet have a total of 492 aircraft. With these purchases, the number will increase to 945.
It is worth noting that Boeing, which has been experiencing difficult times since 2018 due to accidents and falling behind Airbus in sales, has made a comeback with the Trump administration. Particularly with Trump’s efforts, Boeing sold 725 aircraft to various countries in the first eight months of this year, while Airbus remained at 600.
Other important developments and news of the week are as follows:
Goldman Sachs raises inflation and interest rate forecasts for Turkey
US investment bank Goldman Sachs has raised its inflation and policy interest rate forecasts for Turkey. The bank raised its year-end inflation forecast from 27 per cent to 29 per cent, while leaving its 2026 inflation forecast unchanged at 20 per cent.
ING Global also predicted that annual inflation would fall to 32.2 per cent.
JPMorgan forecasts wage increase below inflation
International investment bank JPMorgan has made a noteworthy forecast regarding the 2026 minimum wage increase. Having correctly predicted last year’s 30% increase in the minimum wage, JPMorgan announced in its latest report that it is forecasting a 20% increase for January 2026. The bank forecasts year-end inflation at 24.6 per cent for the same period.
This table indicates that the minimum wage increase will lag behind inflation. If the forecast materialises, the purchasing power of approximately 8 million minimum wage earners will weaken further in real terms in the new year.
Global wealth report: Defeated by inflation despite 46% increase in Turkey
According to Allianz’s 2025 Global Wealth Report, global household financial assets rose by 8.7 per cent in 2024, setting a new record. In Turkey, gross assets rose by 45.8 per cent but fell by 8 per cent in real terms due to high inflation. Turkey ranked 46th in terms of per capita wealth.
The report emphasised that the main driver of growth was the US. It noted that half of the global increase in financial assets occurred in the US, while China’s share was 20% and Western Europe’s share remained at 12%. Allianz Chief Economist Ludovic Subran stated, “Asset growth in the US is, in a word, incredible.”
TÜRK-İŞ: Minimum wage falls below poverty line, poverty threshold exceeds 90,000 TL
According to TÜRK-İŞ’s September 2025 research, the poverty line rose to 27,970 TL and the poverty threshold to 91,109 TL. The cost of living for a single worker is 36,305 TL, while kitchen inflation exceeded 41 per cent on an annual basis.
The hunger and poverty line data, published regularly every month by TÜRK-İŞ to reveal the living conditions of workers in Turkey, showed striking results in September 2025. According to the research, the monthly food expenditure required for a family of four living in Ankara to eat a healthy and balanced diet, i.e. the hunger threshold, rose to 27,970 TL. The poverty threshold, which represents the total of all basic expenses such as food, housing, transport, education and health, was 91,109 TL.
The monthly cost of living for a single worker was calculated at 36,305 TL during the same period. This figure represents a growing gap in the budgets of workers who have to make ends meet on the minimum wage. As of September, the difference between the cost of living for a minimum wage worker and their salary reached 14,201 TL. This situation shows that the gap between income and expenditure is widening with each passing month.
Energy Minister: No price hikes for electricity and natural gas
Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar stated that they are not planning any price hikes for natural gas and electricity as winter approaches.
Bayraktar said the following regarding natural gas and electricity price hikes:
“There will be no price hike for natural gas; we are not considering any price hikes for natural gas and electricity as winter approaches. The pandemic is over. The current situation is as follows: Approximately 590-600 billion lira in natural gas and electricity subsidies are placing a burden on the Treasury. We may be providing the gas we purchase to citizens at half price. During that period, we provided electricity subsidies based on consumption. Those in need of support will apply to the Ministry of Family and Social Services; applications will be reviewed, and eligible individuals will be included in the support group. We are working on this.”
Natural gas prices have increased by 24% over the last three months, 45% over the last year, and 156% since the beginning of 2024. Electricity prices have increased by 38% over the last year and 91% since the beginning of 2024.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the increase was allocated to energy companies. Between 2021 and 2025, the energy cost in electricity bills rose by 24.5 per cent, while the distribution cost increased by 642 per cent. If the increase in the distribution fee had been shaped like the increase in energy production costs, a household with average consumption would have paid a bill of 228 lira instead of 595 lira today. The difference went into the coffers of the privatised electricity distribution companies.
Female unemployment highest in broad definition of unemployment
Broadly defined unemployment rose to 12.19 million, or 29.7 per cent. The highest category was female unemployment, at 39.2 per cent.
TurkStat announced the Labour Force Statistics results for August.
The seasonally adjusted narrowly defined unemployment rate was 8.5 per cent, while the seasonally adjusted broadly defined unemployment rate was 29.7 per cent. Across Turkey, the number of narrowly defined unemployed people aged 15 and above was 3 million 44 thousand in August. The number of broadly defined unemployed, calculated by the Research Centre of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK-AR), was 12 million 190 thousand.
The number of narrowly defined unemployed was 3 million 44 thousand in August 2025, 3 million 38 thousand in August 2024, and 3 million 203 thousand in August 2023. Although narrowly defined standard unemployment appears to be decreasing, broadly defined unemployment has risen during this period. The number of broadly defined unemployed rose to 12 million 190 thousand in August 2025, while this figure was 11 million 72 thousand in August 2024 and 8 million 917 thousand in August 2023.
Unemployment among young people at 16%, with one in three not in work
The unemployment rate among young people aged 15-24 rose by 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous month, reaching 16.0%. The unemployment rate for this age group was estimated at 12.4% for men and 22.7% for women.
Commenting on the unemployment rates, economist İris Cibre pointed out that headline unemployment rose to 8.5 per cent and broad-based unemployment to 29.7 per cent, stating, “One in three people are not working/cannot work. While high-employment sectors are struggling, low-employment sectors are rising. Turkey’s production and exports are changing, but this change is taking place without the creation of a structure that will support the public’s ability to find work.‘
Economist İnan Mutlu also said, ’Şimşek’s economic genocide programme is worse than the pandemic. Real unemployment is 29.7 per cent. It has settled at around 30 per cent. It wasn’t this high even during the pandemic,‘ commented Mutlu. Mutlu added, ’Wages are so low and working hours are so long that people prefer to remain unemployed and poor rather than work and remain poor. The state does not count these people as unemployed because they are not looking for work. Official unemployment figures appear low.”
500,000 new social housing projects in 81 provinces
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said they have initiated the construction of 500,000 social housing units across all 81 provinces through the Ministry of Environment.
Erdoğan provided the following information: “In this project, we will allocate a special quota for our martyrs and veterans, our pensioners, our young people, and families with three children. With this project, we will also implement the rental housing scheme for the first time through TOKİ. We will ease the burden on low-income families by renting out some of our social housing to citizens on favourable terms. Our 500,000 social housing project will make it much easier for our citizens to access housing at a much lower cost. We will share the details of our project with our nation in the 500,000 social housing presentation programme we will hold in the coming days.”
CHP’s Karaca reacts to child poverty; 7 million are hungry
CHP Denizli MP Gülizar Biçer Karaca criticised the government’s economic policies and emphasised the need to strengthen the welfare state, stating that 7 million children in Turkey are starving and 11 million children cannot dream.
In a post on her social media account, Biçer Karaca highlighted the poverty experienced by children, based on data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) and the World Bank. Criticising the government’s policies, Biçer Karaca said, ‘Children are hungry, they have no toys, they have no dreams… But the gang of five has bridges, airports and hospitals.’
Karaca included the following statements in her post: “According to TÜİK and World Bank data; children are hungry, children cannot even get one meal a day of basic foods such as meat, milk, eggs, children cannot dream… Children are hungry, they have no toys, no dreams… But the five-member gang has its guaranteed payments for bridges, toll roads, airports, hospitals, and the millions of dollars transferred to them by the palace… This system will change.” Biçer Karaca emphasised that children in Turkey are deprived of basic necessities, with millions of children experiencing deprivation in the areas of hunger, shelter, education, and culture.
According to data provided by Karaca, the extent of child poverty in Turkey is as follows:
- 7 million children are hungry,
- 6.7 million children do not get one protein-rich meal a day,
- 11 million children do not dream,
- 2.5 million children have no shoes or clothes,
- 7 million children have never had a birthday,
- 5.5 million children have no toys,
- 4 million children cannot read books,
- 14 million children are deprived of culture and sports.
Call for free school meals
Karaca referred to the International School Meals Coalition 2025 Summit held in Brazil on 18-19 September. According to data from the Turkish School Meals Coalition, while 466 million children worldwide benefit from school meals, approximately 10 million children in Turkey are struggling with poverty. Karaca emphasised that Turkey should join the ranks of countries providing school meals, calling for ‘at least one free meal and healthy drinking water in schools right now’. Drawing attention to the principle of the best interests of the child, Biçer Karaca stated that child poverty and the right to nutrition should be a priority agenda item.
3.7 billion TL fine for white meat producers
Following a comprehensive investigation into the chicken meat sector, the Competition Board imposed a total administrative fine of 3.7 billion TL on numerous companies found to have implemented forward-dated price lists that created adverse effects. Beypiliç, Bolez, Keskinoğlu, Lezita and Şenpiliç, which opted for settlement, were fined a total of approximately 1 billion Turkish lira, including discounts granted under the settlement. Akpiliç, Aspiliç, Bakpiliç, Banvit, Bupiliç, Erpiliç, Gedik and Hastavuk, the other parties to the investigation, were fined a total of approximately 2.7 billion Turkish lira.
Turkey leads Europe in domestic work inequality
According to an OECD report, women in Turkey perform 3.5 times more unpaid work than men in the home, averaging 305 minutes (more than 5 hours) per day.
Men spend only 68 minutes on these tasks. Turkish women do 3.5 times more unpaid work than men. This puts Turkey at the top of the list among the 23 European countries surveyed.
According to the report, which highlights gender inequality among European countries, women do on average 86 percent more unpaid work than men.
After Turkey, the highest inequality is seen in Southern European countries: in Portugal, women do 242 per cent more unpaid work than men, in Greece 173 per cent more, and in Italy 134 per cent more.
In contrast, the smallest gap is in Sweden, where women work only 29 percent (49 minutes) more than men.
Installment spending approached 2 trillion lira in 7 months
According to card spending statistics from the Interbank Card Centre (BKM), credit card installment spending exceeded 2 trillion lira in the last 7 months.
Over the past 5 years, they have increased 12-fold. In 2025, instalment purchases made with credit cards broke records every month. Spending over the past seven months has already matched last year’s total instalment credit card purchase volume of 2 trillion 731 billion TL.
Slowdown continues in the manufacturing industry
The ISO Turkey Manufacturing PMI fell to 46.7 in September, indicating that the manufacturing sector continues to slow down. The trend of deterioration in operating conditions has reached 1.5 years. According to the survey results, where all figures above the threshold value of 50 indicate improvement in the sector, the headline PMI fell from 47.3 in August to 46.7 in September, showing that the manufacturing sector continues to slow down. Thus, the trend of deterioration in operating conditions has reached one and a half years.
Low income does not encourage saving; those who do save keep it under the mattress
According to ING’s ‘Turkey Savings Trends Survey’ data for the second quarter of 2025, one in two people in Turkey (54%) are saving, but 63% of savings are kept under the mattress. Women show a greater tendency to save than men, at 56.7%.
According to the survey, 67% of participants stated that they were unable to save due to insufficient income, with low income, unemployment, high rent and utility bills, and increasing expenses being the main obstacles to saving.
In terms of savings preferences, gold kept under the mattress leads with a 35% share, followed by cash TL and foreign currency kept at home with 28%, bringing the total share of those preferring savings under the mattress to 63%. Bank TL term deposits remain limited at 21%, while stocks and the stock market attract 19% interest, and gold and precious metal accounts attract 18%.
US government shutdown: Gold hits new record
Following the US government shutdown, investors turned to safe havens. Gold prices reached new record levels on Wednesday. Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $3,872.87 per ounce. US gold futures rose 0.7 per cent to $3,901.40.
Gold prices have broken records one after another this year as investors sought safe havens amid turbulence caused by trade wars, geopolitical tensions and growing concerns about a possible funding crisis in the US. Inflows into exchange-traded funds and the Fed’s interest rate cuts supported gold’s rise.
US gold reserves exceed $1 trillion
Gold prices rose above $3,828 per ounce, recording a 45 per cent increase this year, while the world’s largest gold reserves also crossed a critical threshold. The US Treasury’s gold reserves have exceeded $1 trillion.
Unlike most countries, the US government holds its gold directly, rather than through the central bank. The Fed holds gold certificates equivalent to the value of the gold held by the Treasury and transfers dollars to the government in return.
Experts note that the market value of the reserves exceeding one trillion dollars is a symbolic show of strength in terms of the US’s borrowing capacity and global financial image. However, this value will not translate into actual cash flow unless the gold is sold.
Updating the value of the reserves at today’s prices means that approximately 990 billion dollars will enter the Treasury’s coffers.
Goldman Sachs forecasts continued rise on Wall Street
Goldman Sachs stated that the Fed’s dovish stance, strong valuations and economic resilience could maintain a positive trend in global equities until the end of the year. Goldman Sachs strategists noted that equities generally perform well at the end of economic slowdowns when policy support is strong. The strategists indicated that the increase in stock market gains will continue to gain momentum alongside the Fed’s easing policy without a recession.
Goldman’s US strategists raised their stock index forecasts this month, stating that they expect the S&P 500 to reach 6,800 points with a 2% increase in three months.
The ‘Magnificent 10’ era on Wall Street
The balance of technology stocks on Wall Street is shifting. Following the ‘Magnificent 7’ era (Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Tesla), Broadcom, Oracle and Palantir have come to the fore with the artificial intelligence boom. Palantir’s shares rose 135% in 2025, Oracle’s rose 75%, while Apple, Amazon and Tesla lagged behind. Analysts are now talking about the concept of the “Magnificent 10”; in the new era, not only giant technology companies but also companies providing artificial intelligence infrastructure, such as TSMC, Arista and Micron, are among the winners.
Nvidia CEO: China is “nanoseconds” behind the US in chip production
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said China is very close to the US in chip production and called for the lifting of export restrictions. According to Jensen Huang, Washington’s attempts to close markets with export restrictions are weakening the US’s global influence in the long term. Nvidia’s boss argues that, on the contrary, open access to China is more strategic for the spread of US technology. Huang highlighted the capabilities and speed of Chinese engineers. He pointed to the controversial ‘9-9-6’ work culture (working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week), noting that Chinese teams are strong, innovative, ambitious and fast-moving competitors.
According to Huang, rather than excluding China from the technological race, it would be more beneficial for American companies to maintain their presence in this market, both commercially and geopolitically.
Huang’s remarks coincided with Nvidia preparing to reintroduce its long-awaited H20 artificial intelligence GPU to the Chinese market. The US Department of Commerce began issuing licences for the H20 in August.
Trump finally got his way: he signed the TikTok executive order
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order paving the way for the sale of Chinese social media platform TikTok’s US operations to American investors. Recalling that he had a ‘very good’ meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said, “I have great respect for him. I hope he respects me very much too. We talked about TikTok and other issues, and he gave us his approval.‘
Trump stated that 4-5 ’pro-US” investors, such as Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, Fox executive Rupert Murdoch, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, were involved in the initiative, adding that Oracle would play a major role in security.
US Vice President JD Vance also said that despite some resistance from the Chinese side, they want TikTok to continue operating in the country. Vance stated that the company would be worth approximately $14 billion.
Alibaba partners with Nvidia on new data centres and artificial intelligence
Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba announced that it has agreed to partner with chip manufacturer Nvidia as part of its investment strategy in the field of artificial intelligence and plans to open its first data centres in Brazil, France and the Netherlands, while also unveiling a new powerful artificial intelligence model. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose nearly 10 per cent to a four-year high after the company announced it had signed a partnership agreement with Nvidia. The company said it would collaborate with Nvidia on physical AI capabilities such as data synthesis, AI model training, environmental simulation and validation testing.
Alibaba also announced that it will open additional facilities in Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Dubai next year. With the new facilities, the company will expand its network, which currently consists of 91 operating points in 29 regions.
Eurozone annual inflation stands at 2.2 per cent
Inflation in the Eurozone in September was calculated at 2.2 per cent. The European Statistical Office (Eurostat) published preliminary inflation figures for the Eurozone for September. According to these figures, annual inflation in the Eurozone rose from 2 per cent in August to 2.2 per cent in September. Inflation in September was 0.1 per cent on a monthly basis.
Market expectations were also for inflation to be 2.2 per cent on an annual basis in September. Core inflation in the Eurozone rose by 2.3 per cent on an annual basis and 0.1 per cent on a monthly basis in September.
Germany’s employment barometer falls to pandemic levels
In Germany, where the economy is struggling to grow, the Employment Barometer of the Institute for Economic Research (Ifo), which stood at 93.8 points in August, fell to 92.5 points in September, its lowest level since June 2020 during the pandemic. According to Ifo, the automotive and mechanical engineering sectors in particular are planning to hire fewer staff, and the barometer showed a significant decline in the service sector. Ifo states that the German economy is currently losing momentum and that there will be no real economic recovery without structural reforms in the country.
Bosch to part ways with 13,000 employees, Lufthansa with 4,000
It has been reported that Bosch, one of the world’s largest automotive suppliers, plans to cut costs and lay off approximately 13,000 more people by 2030. The company stated that the cost-cutting plan includes not only layoffs but also reducing operating costs, cutting back on investments in facilities, and reorganising logistics and supply chains.
German airline Lufthansa Group announced plans to cut 4,000 administrative jobs by 2030.
Historic fine for Amazon: $2.5 billion
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has imposed a historic $2.5 billion fine on Amazon, one of the world’s largest technology companies, for misleading consumers in its Prime membership registration and cancellation processes. Amazon has agreed to pay the fine.
Under the agreement, Amazon will pay the FTC $1 billion in fines and refund a total of $1.5 billion to 35 million customers. The refunds will be made to consumers who were unwittingly enrolled in Prime over the past six years or who encountered obstacles when cancelling their membership. Payments are expected to begin within 90 days, and consumers are expected to apply within 180 days.
Gaming giant Electronic Arts sold for $55 billion
Electronic Arts (EA), one of the world’s largest gaming companies, is being sold in a $55 billion deal. The consortium acquiring the company includes Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Silver Lake, and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
Electronic Arts is known for its million-selling games such as EA FC (formerly FIFA), The Sims and Mass Effect. This deal is considered the largest leveraged buyout in history, as it was largely financed by debt.
This sale is the second-largest deal in the gaming industry after Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.
Other important news of the week in brief:
- Sales of light commercial vehicles and cars reached 928,000 units, breaking all-time records for the first nine months of the year. September sales amounted to 110,000 units.
- The banking sector’s net profit for the period ending August was 563 billion 401 million lira. The sector’s total assets amounted to 41.9 trillion lira, and the capital adequacy ratio was recorded at 18.25 per cent.
- Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır stated that they are offering support of up to 2 million lira to entrepreneurs who want to start and develop a business, adding that the repayment of the support, which can be applied for between 1 and 31 October, will begin 36 months later.
- The number of passengers using Istanbul’s airports, which totalled 86,454,717 between January and August this year, exceeded Turkey’s total population of 85,824,854 as of 1 July. Istanbul Airport welcomed 55,250,785 passengers in the first eight months of this year. Of these passengers, 11,823,296 travelled on domestic routes and 43,427,489 on international routes.
- The Central Bank’s 25 basis point reduction in credit card interest rates came into effect on 1 October. With the Central Bank’s decision, the contractual interest rate has been reduced to 4.50 per cent and the late payment interest rate to 4.80 per cent. The circular regarding the maximum interest rates applicable to credit card transactions was published in the Official Gazette on 18 September.
- According to the Central Bank’s Weekly Securities Statistics for the week of 19 September, foreign investors purchased a net $178 million worth of bonds and $407.6 million worth of shares. The stock of shares held by non-residents, which stood at $30.9632 billion in the week of 12 September, rose to $33.7368 billion in the week of 19 September.
- The company that owns KFC and Pizza Hut went bankrupt with debts of $4.4 billion. The court ruled on the bankruptcy of İş Gıda AŞ and İshway Gıda, which own more than 500 KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants across Turkey. İş Gıda, which was declared bankrupt, has debts of 4.4 billion TL.
- The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that new experiments will be conducted next year to explore the potential applications of the digital euro. Stating that it is continuing its project on the digital version of the euro, the ECB announced that, within this scope, a second round of trials will be conducted next year to explore the potential of the digital euro in collaboration with merchants, fintech companies, start-ups, universities, banks and other payment service providers via the platform.
- Oba Makarnacılık transferred its noodle factory in Sakarya/Hendek, where five workers lost their lives in an explosion and subsequent fire on 15 September 2024, to Japan-based Nissin Foods Holdings Co. Ltd. The sale was approved by the board of directors on 30 September 2025, and the Asset Transfer Agreement was signed on 1 October 2025.
- Trade Minister Ömer Bolat announced that exports in September 2025 rose by 3 per cent compared to the same period last year, reaching $22.6 billion. In the January-September period of 2025, exports increased by 4.1 per cent to $200.6 billion.
- The US economy grew by 3.8 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025, exceeding forecasts. The Department of Commerce revised its previously announced growth rate of 3.3 per cent upwards, while market expectations remained at 3.3 per cent.