All policy instruments used to fight inflation: Minister

SAKARYA

All economic policy instruments will be used in the most effective way in the fight against inflation, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati has said.

“We will beat inflation permanently,” said Nebati, speaking at the Uludağ Economy Summit 2022 in the northeastern province of Sakarya on Oct. 7.

The minister noted that the inflation rate averaged 73 percent between 1994 and 2002.

“Since 2002, the average inflation rate has been 13 percent. We managed to reign in inflation in the past 20 years. We will work to prevent inflation from remaining elevated and through a soft transition and due to the base effect in December, inflation will ease to this average level,” Nebati said.

Consumer prices increased by 3.1 percent in September from August. The annual inflation rate, consequently, accelerated from 80.2 percent in August to 83.45 percent last month.

In its latest Medium-Term Program, the government forecasts that inflation will decline from an estimated 65 percent at the end of 2022 to 24.9 percent next year. The government expects inflation to drop further down to 13.8 percent 2024 and 9.9 percent at the end of 2025.

The government’s priority is production and creating jobs, the minister reiterated.

The Turkish economy, which recorded high growth rates, decoupled from the rest of the world economies which are contracting, Nebati said.

“We are determined to make our success story in the past a permanent one in the Century of Türkiye by putting price stability at the center of our economic policies,” he added.

For a stronger Türkiye, resources will be channeled in investments which will contribute to the county’s growth potential without compromising on the budget discipline, Nebati said.