‘47,572 shopkeepers went bankrupt in Turkey in the first half of 2021’

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Vice Chair and Malatya MP Veli Ağbaba has released a statement and shared the numbers about the companies and shopkeepers that went bankrupt in June.

According to the information shared by the MP based on the Trade Registry Gazette on Craft and Related Trades Workers, the number of shopkeepers who went bankrupt in Turkey in May 2021 was 3,893. However, this number increased by 94 percent to 7,568 in June 2021.

Ağbaba has noted that the number of shopkeepers who went bankrupt in the first six months of this year was 47,572.

While the number of companies that were closed was 556 in May 2021, this number increased by 116 percent to 1,226 in June 2021.

84 percent of SMEs are indebted

According to the statement of the main opposition MP, 84 percent of the small and medium sixed enterprises (SME) are indebted to banks. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) data has shown that the total amount of SMEs' debts to banks is nearly 950 billion lira.

Arguing that the financial support offered to shopkeepers during the COVID-19 pandemic is inadequate, Ağbaba has said:

"High interest rate loans, increasing foreign exchange rates and uncertainties in the economy lead to mass bankruptcy of companies in Turkey.

"A potential increase in the rate of bankruptcy on the part of both shopkeepers and small and medium sized enterprises in the upcoming period will also lead to an increase in mass unemployment." (KÖ/SD)