Firms fined 356 mln liras over price hikes, stockpiling

Companies that were found to have engaged in exorbitant price increases and stockpiling were slapped with a total administrative fine of 355.8 million Turkish Liras ($11 million) last year, the Trade Ministry has announced.

The Unfair Price Assessment Board met on May 2 and looked into especially the exorbitant price increases in staple food and basic necessity products in the markets, stockpiling in the automotive industry and excessive price increases in the ready-mixed concrete and cement sector, the ministry said in a statement.

Another item on the board's meeting was the price hikes for bread, which violates the regulations, it added.

After evaluations, the board decided to impose another administrative fine of more than 61 million liras on the companies that were found to have engaged in excessive price increases and stockpiling, the ministry said.

"We will continue to implement the necessary administrative measures against actions which adversely affect consumers and disrupt pricing behavior in the markets," the ministry added.

The annual inflation accelerated from 68.5 percent in March to 69.8 percent in April, the latest official data showed. Consumer prices advanced 3.18 percent monthly.

Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose 2.78 percent month-on-month and 68.5 percent year-on-year, while bread and cereal prices increased 2.02 percent monthly, which brought the annual rise for those items to 60.61 percent.