Around $640 mln allocated to support exporters

ISTANBUL

The government allocated a total of 3.8 billion Turkish Liras (around $640 million) of financing to support exporters this year, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan has said.

“In 2019, this figure was an all-time high 3.2 billion liras. Besides financing support, we are also working on innovative projects aimed at facilitating businesses’ transactions and activities,” the minister said in a speech in Istanbul.

Earlier in January, Pekcan unveiled that Eximbank (Export Credit Bank of Turkey) slashed the interest rate on lira loans extended to small and medium-sized companies and exporters, which manufacture high-tech products, to 7.95 percent.

Eximbank provided a financing support of $44.1 billion to exporters in 2019.

Pekcan also noted the improvement in the country’s foreign trade deficit, saying, “The shortfall declined 45 percent from $54.3 billion to $29.9billion.”

The export/import coverage ratio spiked to 85.8 percent, which marked the highest figure over the past 62 years, Pekcan said, adding that exports contributed some 4.7 points to the country’s GDP growth.

The latest data on the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly show that between Jan. 1 and Jan. 25, Turkey’s exports stood at $10.4 billion.

Turkey aims to exceed $190 billion in exports in 2020, İsmail Gülle, the head of TİM, recently said.

The country’s exports, which were around $30 billion in 2000, were $180.5 billion last year.

The government’s export revenue target for 2021 is $202 billion.

It expects export revenues to increase to $213 billion in 2022.