Commercial loan interest rates down to 18 pct: Minister

ANKARA

Interest rates on commercial loans have declined from 30 percent at the end of July to around 18 percent, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati has said, citing the government’s policies as the reason behind the decline in costs.

“Under the scope of the Türkiye Economy Model, we are continuing to implement the anti-inflationary loan policies which are designed to make our [economic] growth sustainable and support job growth,” Nebati wrote on Twitter on Nov. 8.

With those measures, the government is making possible for businesses to have access to cheaper loans, whose costs are below the inflation rate, the minister added.

The annual inflation rate was 85.5 percent in October.

“Thanks to the policies we are implementing, the loan growth has been strong and the weight of commercial loans in this growth is high,” Nebati said.

The minister noted that the banking sector loan volume increased by 68.2 percent on an annual basis as of end-October, while commercial loans rose by 74.9 percent over the same period.

“We prioritize small and medium-sized companies’ (SMEs) easy access to loans. Due to this approach, loans extended to SMEs, which constitute the backbone of our economy and job creation, grew more than three times their long time average,” the minister said.

“We will continue to implement prudential incentive policies in order to keep economic activity robust despite the recession expectations in the global economy,” Nebati added.