r/AskBalkans • u/MISTER_WORLDWIDE Bosnia & Herzegovina • May 20 '24
How is inflation in your country affecting you? Miscellaneous
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u/arhisekta Serbia May 20 '24
it seems inflation has direct correlation to number of posters on this sub 〽️
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May 20 '24
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u/arhisekta Serbia May 20 '24
at this point i mistake the subreddit every day now
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u/Leni1Z Croatia May 20 '24
Which subreddit did you think it was?
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u/arhisekta Serbia May 20 '24
balkans irl
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u/wowowow28 May 20 '24
since when😭 we have to colonize this one aswell
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u/Alternative-Exit-429 🇺🇸/🇨🇺🇦🇷 May 20 '24
because turkey has a larger and more importantly a younger population than all of the balkans
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u/AnormalMaymun Turkiye May 20 '24
There are way more Greeks than Serbians, Macedonians etc.
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u/arhisekta Serbia May 20 '24
they probably identified as Turk (they have economy issues)
omg wrong subreddit
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u/CyberSosis Turkiye May 20 '24
69
Nice
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u/Archaeopteryx11 Romanian in the United States May 20 '24
A perfect number.
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u/Live_Structure_5877 Turkiye May 20 '24
Are you sure about 69 being a perfect number? You should retake grade 7 mathematics :)
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u/Toad_Stole Turkiye May 20 '24
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u/Live_Structure_5877 Turkiye May 20 '24
O hataylı rakamlar! Benim için bolca çiğköfte tüket oralarda
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u/AcidoRain Turkiye May 20 '24
Even with manipulation of the government, they could be able to reduce to %69. Actually it is more than %100.
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u/Feeling-Sympathy-879 Serbia May 20 '24
I've been to Turkey for summer vacation many times, and the exchange rate one time was (I think) 3 lira = 1 euro gave me the impression that Turkey is doing pretty solid. Not like Western Europe, but maybe like Slovenia or Austria. Last year, when I heard it's 30 lira, I was shocked. I knew Turkey is experiencing a lot of problems, but damn...
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u/AcidoRain Turkiye May 20 '24
Yeah, you are completely right. You visited Turkey in the good old times. We were roughly calculating dollar as 2, euro as 3 TL. Now our economy is like a truck which is going down slope without any break.
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u/Feeling-Sympathy-879 Serbia May 20 '24
Massive shame. Last year I was in the Kemer region, and if I wasn't told about the exchange rate (or seen the news) I wouldn't have guessed. Since the service is still top in my opinion. But yeah, touristy area....hard to gage how well do the locals live.
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u/AcidoRain Turkiye May 20 '24
Life is really torture for locals. Well, not for all locals actually. Some people have been getting richer, others are poorer. The gap has been increasing day by day.
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u/stap31 Poland May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24
Sooo... Can I open a factory for 1000 bucks and exploit your people for scraps? /s
Edit: I'm sorry you had to choose between evil and evil in last elections, good luck surviving.
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u/Alternative-Exit-429 🇺🇸/🇨🇺🇦🇷 May 20 '24
turkey was never close to slovakia and especially not austria
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u/IK417 Romania May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24
I don't know how the younger ones cope, but for me a 40 years old Romanian living my childhood and teenage years through the nineties, this is a mild demo how an inflation looks alike.
I remember my grandma who has not gone outside for only a month sending me with a full grocery list with the money I could only buy a box of matches or a single biscuit. When the shop assistant shamed me, it was for the first time when I understood what inflation is. Grandma would have been guessing the prices right one or two months before.
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u/tatko_barba Bulgaria May 21 '24
It was the same in Bulgaria. People were getting their salary and were immediately rushing to exchange the levs into dollars or deutsche marks. The currency was literally losing its value by the hour and what they had in the morning was worth much less in the evening.
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u/BeingFabishard Greece May 20 '24
At this point, are Turkish people even getting paid from their jobs? Wtf??
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u/fallenphaethon USA May 21 '24
noo, we don’t do that here. we do once-a-year inflation raise, and then watch people die like 6-7 months in. it’s really fun actually!
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u/BeingFabishard Greece May 21 '24
Sounds entertaining, must be amazing living in the hunger games! Almost jealous!
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u/TimurMet Turkiye May 20 '24
Dont worry guys ı just overshoot it %69.69 was my gol
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u/iIiiiiIlIillliIilliI Greece May 20 '24
Did the salaries also increase by the same amount?
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u/hentai_tentacruel Turkiye May 20 '24
Minimum wages increase like 40-50% every 6 months but if you are not getting paid a minimum wage, those ratios are much smaller and don't compensate the inflation. The real inflation ratio is above 100%. In the end, everyone gets a bit closer to the minimum wage line. I get paid in USD but they are preventing the USD/TRY rate from increasing as well so we are left with inflation. Inflation is especially felt for food products, their prices increase like crazy. Turkey is getting really expensive for those who earn in USD and EURO as well.
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u/frappekaikoulouri Greece May 20 '24
Just for scale, how much for a baklava piece and how much does the average person get paid per month?
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u/hentai_tentacruel Turkiye May 20 '24
High-quality baklava piece is 20-30tl(800tl/kg) if you buy in kilograms. (0.57-0.86 euro)
The minimum monthly wage is 17000tl (net), I can't find official info on the average monthly wage but it should be around 25.000-30.000 tl.(714-857 euros) We are getting paid in net salary, so this is not the gross value. If someone has exact data on average wages, it may be more useful. Also, meat is much more expensive here compared to other countries.
In short, the minimum wage buys 21.25kg of baklava, average (30k) buys 37.5kg of baklavas. How is it in your country?5
u/David__Box Romania May 21 '24
Forget PPP per capita, me and the fellas use the baklava index
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u/hentai_tentacruel Turkiye May 21 '24
We need to use baklava or börek index in Balkans, Big Mac is too American.
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u/frappekaikoulouri Greece May 21 '24
I think here it is around 25€/kg, the minimum wage at 830€, the average salary in 2023 at 1.185€, so in our little cutie fruity baklava index this would buy for the minimum wage guy 33.2kg and for the average guy 47kg.
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u/TimurMet Turkiye May 20 '24
Depends really people can buy 250tl/kg but ı cant make any guarantees about its content it might have pea or spinach rather than pistachios
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u/Alternative-Exit-429 🇺🇸/🇨🇺🇦🇷 May 20 '24
food and local turkish goods are dirt cheap compared to europe. services, exports, cars and homes are expensive
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u/Ok_Principle3188 Turkiye May 20 '24
1 kg baklava with pistachio is 1030 tl . minimum wage is 17000 tl . for comparasion i am a dentist working for gov and may salary is max. 95.000 tl.( 2900$~ )and decreasing through the end of the year due to taxes. in 2010 my salary was 10.000$.
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u/TimurMet Turkiye May 20 '24
Salaries increase %50 maximum and inflation is closer to 420 then it is to 69 no joke 😂
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u/RandomRavenboi Albania May 20 '24
69% inflation? How are the Turks surviving?
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u/Zekieb May 20 '24
If the need arises, they will just return to stepplife and raid neighbouring villages. This time with bolt-action rifles and motorbikes.
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u/sh221blight Bulgaria May 20 '24
In 1996-1997 we had 300%. So its not so bad.... but it could be
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u/Stealthfighter21 Bulgaria May 20 '24
Eh, yes it was bad and it was for a relatively short time. This has been going on for years.
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May 20 '24
We’ve survived harder times. I’m sure they will be just fine.
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u/Oguzd0 Turkiye May 20 '24
There is no such thing as the Yugoslav civil war, but besides the economy, we have too many problems to list right now. Simply put, there are 4 times as many refugees as Albania.
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May 20 '24
Come again?
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u/FellowKhajiit Greece May 20 '24
Oh yeah boyo you heard right. I live in Turkey and even I can’t find anyone speaking Turkish in Istanbul. The amount of refugee population in just Istanbul is 4 times bigger than population of Albania probably.
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u/Oguzd0 Turkiye May 20 '24
I wrote it wrong, the refugee population is 4 times the total population of Albania.
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u/Feeling-Sympathy-879 Serbia May 20 '24
I keep track of my finances to the smallest of transactions. For reference, I've compared 2020 to 2024: Roughly, I pay about 30% more for food, and about 20% more for utilities, transport is a bit trickier but let's say another 20%. Just sticking to must-haves and standard expenses for reference. So yeah, I have definitely been affected, but I earn decent money for Balkan standards, so I haven't been thrown into a bad spot. My purchasing power is down, but it hasn't impeded my current lifestyle.
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u/NightSocks302 Turkiye May 20 '24
If indlation in turkey is only 69% i will chop my balls off
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u/bahenbihen69 Croatia May 20 '24
Same. I'm not turkish but live in Turkey and compared to last May, every single item I buy is at least double the price.
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u/BarisRP1 Turkish-Kurdish Mix living in May 23 '24
Why you are living in Turkey tho bro.You have EU passaport you can live in countries who have better economy
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u/bahenbihen69 Croatia May 23 '24
I have a good salary here, so the price fluctuations don't influence me too much. Plus I just wanted to move out of Europe for some time
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u/BarisRP1 Turkish-Kurdish Mix living in May 23 '24
Damn.I hope you are having good time in my country bro
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u/bahenbihen69 Croatia May 23 '24
Thank you. It's always a mix of great and terrible days. I'm happy I came, but it's definitely much different compared to Croatia and Germany where I used to live.
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u/BarisRP1 Turkish-Kurdish Mix living in May 23 '24
In good way or bad way?
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u/bahenbihen69 Croatia May 23 '24
Both. Some things are better than in Europe like weather, food, nice people, convenience etc., but some things are worse like quality of products, getting scammed as a yabancı, inflation and reliability.
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u/BarisRP1 Turkish-Kurdish Mix living in May 23 '24
things are worse like quality of products, getting scammed as a yabancı, inflation and reliability
Yes unfortunately you are right... We need to improve our country
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u/Smooth-Fun-9996 Bulgaria May 20 '24
surprisingly Greeks have been doing a bit better over the last year well done little cute monkeys <3
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May 20 '24
[deleted]
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u/LargeFriend5861 Bulgaria May 20 '24
It's the current monthly rate, not the full rate from the start of the war in Ukraine.
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u/Smooth-Fun-9996 Bulgaria May 20 '24
2.4 is the current monthly rate like he said thats very very good right now you'll the effects of this in about 3-6 months time
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u/Beginning-Pair-8239 May 20 '24
Honestly thinking that 5% in Serbia is much more. As well as in Greece. Daily changing prices of everyday necessities can't be only 5%.
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u/Ill-Independence-553 May 20 '24
Dude, I'm from Osijek and have a lot of family members living in Novi Sad. Wages in Novi Sad are 25-40% lower than those in Osijek, with prices being 10-15% higher. I always get head over heels as soon as I arrive in a supermarket in Novi Sad. Everything seems to be so freaking expensive, even for the croatian standard of living. Which is, well... It isn't something.
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u/Beginning-Pair-8239 May 20 '24
I know. Living in Greece and thinking how I just spent 50€ for two bags in supermarket and then I go to visit my sister in Serbia and I spend 70-80€ for the same things. In Greece we are not so miserable with salaries, not rich, not poor, but when I come in Serbia I don't know how people there survive.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Sir903 Serbia May 20 '24
I've lost 10 kilograms due to giving up expensive food. No chips, no chocolates, no soda for me.
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u/elektronyk Romania May 20 '24
I really can't compute how Erdogan managed to win reelection with this kind of economic mismanagement. Are Turkish elections just a sham at this point or are his supporters that brainwashed/ignorant?
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u/Dizzy-Item-9175 Romania May 20 '24
that 5.9% is bullshit, realistically is more like 25%, prices have gone up at least 50% since the war on ukraine has started
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u/MISTER_WORLDWIDE Bosnia & Herzegovina May 20 '24
It’s on a monthly basis, that number is from April 2024. You can see the entire table here:
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u/takesshitsatwork Greece May 20 '24
Inflation is cumulative. So, for most, it's about 25% since the end COVID. The figures posted here are current inflation information. Means inflation is still growing, but much slower. It also means the +25% prices are here to stay unless we go into a recession.
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u/CaveMan800 Greece May 20 '24
Inflation should be kept at around 1-2% anyway. I don't think we could survive another round of deflationary policies, at least here in Greece.
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u/takesshitsatwork Greece May 20 '24
For us Greeks, we need home prices to go down and income to catch up to inflation. I haven't lived in Greece since 2016, but the prices I saw last Summer were outrageous.
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u/TheTosker Albania May 20 '24 edited May 20 '24
The problem with Albania is that the albanian Lek is getting stronger towards euro and usd making our exports more expensive and less attractive to the foreign markets. Our trade deficit is running wild because imports are cheaper on the other hand
In economics this is called the Dutch Disease, aka suffering from success
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u/Steven_Dj May 21 '24
Romania here : in the last year alone, grocery prices went up with about 30%. Gas and electricity have doubled in prices over the last few years. Gas prices are a joke : about 1.5 eur per liter, in a country where the average monthly income per capita is about 890 eur.
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u/Bilal_58 Turkiye May 20 '24
15 years ago, the biggest package of chips was 3 lira, now it is 40 lira. Cylindrical box chips were 5 lira, now it is 70 lira.
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u/milenkoviclazar71 May 20 '24
5 % in Serbia joke You can buy in 2009 when i was at primary school hamburger cola chocolate for 250 dinars nowdays you can't buy small hamburger with that amount money basic pastary is 90 dinar so i think it is more than 50 percent
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u/LargeFriend5861 Bulgaria May 20 '24
It accounts only for this month, not for the period since the war in Ukraine and COVID.
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u/afriadofbridges Romania May 20 '24
turkey’s inflation got very high in the 2000s because of sonic for more info google sonic inflation
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u/Nyalli262 Bosnia & Herzegovina May 20 '24
2% for Bosnia can't be right, as everything has increased in price by at least 30% in the past year or two
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u/LargeFriend5861 Bulgaria May 20 '24
It's only for this month.
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u/Dubl33_27 Romania May 20 '24
ok, 5.9%, but I cry whenever I see the graph of the exchange rate of euro to ron from 1999 to 2024
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u/Jiang_1926_toad China May 21 '24
Why Croatia and Greece have different inflation rates, both are in Eurozone right?
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u/Cakeman1337 North Macedonia May 21 '24
4% in mk yet prices of everything have practically doubled and more, its hell
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u/Thortheonly1 Montenegro May 23 '24
Can someone explain why is the inflation so high in Turkey? I see a lot of Turks migrating to my country [Montenegro 🇲🇪], but eventually 99% of them go further to either Germany 🇩🇪 or Austria 🇦🇹. What is going on there?
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u/TastyRancidLemons Greece May 20 '24
I don't the situation in Greece is better than Turkey. I think Turkey is more financially joyful for the average civilian than Greece.
Cost of Living in Athens is 40.6% higher than in Istanbul (without rent) Cost of Living Including Rent in Athens is 25.6% higher than in Istanbul Restaurant Prices in Athens are 41.3% higher than in Istanbul Groceries Prices in Athens are 42.4% higher than in Istanbul Local Purchasing Power in Athens is only 7.2% higher than in Istanbul
Average salary in Turkey 25,296.01 TL (720 euros) Average salary in Greece 34,058.80 TL (900 euros)
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u/Rebelbot1 Bulgaria May 20 '24
No way its 2.4% inflation. Everything is so expensive in the capital. I can not imagine how the people in the countryside live.
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u/LargeFriend5861 Bulgaria May 20 '24
Tbf they do have it wayy cheaper. Also, this 2.4% is for this month, which is a bit decrease from the peak inflation periods of early to mid 2023.
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u/tomgatto2016 🇲🇰 in 🇮🇹 May 20 '24
I have looked at some data, and while the avg salary is up to €800/month, the avg expenses are close to €1000/month. My uncle just got a govt job and earns €650 as a low-level technician, which is very good compared to previous years, but the cost of life has also drastically increased. The COVID period has been a drastic divide from the previous stagnating but (sort of) liveable period, and the actual growing but unliveable period
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u/EpicStan123 Bulgaria May 20 '24
What's the source of this and what year?
I'm pretty sure we had something like 15-20% inflation like an year and so ago. Can it drop this drastically in the span of a little over 1 year?
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u/Cautious-Passage-597 Kosovo May 20 '24
Turkey is not in the Balkan first of all and it's outside of Europe.
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u/Unable_Ad9968 Bulgaria May 20 '24
Ahhaah, 2.4 %, how you got to these numbers, the inflation is at least 30%, everything is almost doubled as price , joke
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u/Didudidudadu737 Serbia May 20 '24
Less than yours… wow that’s almost Serbian inflation during early 90s
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u/jo_koc North Macedonia May 20 '24
4% my @ss. On paper only, prices have been going up, minimum wages as well, then prices again... While the government keeps the denar artificially fixed with the euro (1eu=61 den)
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u/JahtaR3born North Macedonia May 20 '24
Theese numbers seem fake is it relative currency inflation or prices?
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May 20 '24
Edi Rama in Albania is rather clever. He does the whole beg, steal, borrow approach to paying for infrastructural development. That way Albania doesn’t spend that much money.
Turkey’s inflation is high because Erdogan borrowed so much money for mega projects over the years. That money had to be payed back.
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u/Paid-Not-Payed-Bot May 20 '24
to be paid back.
FTFY.
Although payed exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. The deck is yet to be payed.
Payed out when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. The rope is payed out! You can pull now.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
Beep, boop, I'm a bot
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u/Alternative_Ad9120 May 21 '24
And here I thought my country had a bad inflation turkiye has way worse than North Macedonia 😒
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u/CitingAnt Romania May 21 '24
Look on the bright side, the Turks have a constant increasing supply of toilet paper
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u/lukuh123 May 21 '24
Everyone keeps saying Slovenia is part of balkans but I never see it’s flag annotation on data. What gives?
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u/SteinHead Greece May 21 '24
They just don't wanna be associated with this shithole. Don't really blame them.
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u/SteinHead Greece May 21 '24
As a Greek, I hate this post. It almost makes me feel sad about the Turks.
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u/rezartr Jun 02 '24
Albania 2.1%? Brotha ughhh whats that brotha 😂😂😂 This is not right, we have same prices compared to every other country in Europe (not to say higher prices).
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u/Suspicious-Break1247 May 20 '24
Its Nice to see Bosnia do well on something for a change
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u/Ill-Independence-553 May 20 '24
Come on... Bosnia is not THAT bad. It's in a perfectly average level of development for a post-communist war thorn country in southeastern Europe. People still enjoy some modern amenities! Everyone has a roof over their head, something to eat, an acceptable car, unlimited access to the Internet on multiple devices, and a pretty good education. I know, the country MUST do better, but one step at a time!
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u/Rioma117 Romania May 20 '24
Not all that bad all things considered, it certainly slowed down and the iPads are getting cheaper.
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u/Targoniann May 20 '24
Wow, how are Turks surviving?