Economy to recover fast with low rates: Finance minister

ANKARA

Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati has said he will reveal the details of Turkey’s new economic model based on production and exports to the high ranks of the ruling party and the wider public.

His meeting with the business world at the presidential office in the Dolmabahçe Palace complex in Istanbul on Dec. 11 was “very fruitful,” he told news portal Habertürk on Dec. 13.

“The economy will recover at a very fast pace,” he said, adding that the government will abstain from raising interest rates. “You’ll see that we can deal with it without raising interest rates. Just trust us.”

Turkey’s macroeconomic indicators are all positive, the minister underlined and said: “There are some problems but we have a very strong infrastructure to overcome them. All we need is to make people believe in that and acknowledge that we will not step back. They should understand our determination and trust in our sincerity.”

Nebati said that he is making his preparations to brief the cabinet members and the central executive board of the Justice and Development Party on the new economic policies. “Then I will appear before the public and talk,” he said.

New economy policies should not be branded as “the Chinese model nor the South Korean Model,” the minister stressed.
“This is the Turkish model. Turkey is a very strong country with its circumstances, geopolitics, good relations, its strength coming from its past,” he said. “This model is unique to us. That’s what I told the businesspeople at the meeting. That’s why they left very happy.”

More than 60 businesspeople, including representatives of companies, chambers, banks and regulatory bodies attended the meeting.

“The minister briefed us on the current outlook and the new economic program. A lot of issues including the raw material price hikes, payments to medical firms, claims of public contract holders and value-added tax returns were discussed,” Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the head of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, told reporters after the meeting.

Touching on the Central Bank’s interventions in the exchange rate markets, “There are some manipulative and speculative domestic transactions. The Central Bank makes moves against them,” said Nebati.

The Central Bank intervened in currency markets for the fourth time this month.

“The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey directly intervenes in the market via selling transactions due to unhealthy price formations in exchange rates,” the bank said in a statement.

The move came after the Turkish Lira hit a new all-time low against the U.S. dollar, falling from 13.87 to around 14.60. In the afternoon, the lira gained against the greenback to reach 13.78. The Central Bank announces foreign exchange interventions to the public on the same day, while the exact figures are usually published in 15 days.
The total volume of the Central Bank’s previous three dollar-selling transactions was estimated at $2 billion, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Erdoğan met with Nebati, Turkish Central Bank governor Şahap Kavcıoğlu and general managers of the three state lenders in Istanbul on Dec. 13.

Erdoğan appointed Nebati, the deputy of former minister Lütfi Elvan, as the new finance minister on Dec. 2.

The new economic model that Turkey is pursuing aims to grow the national economy by boosting investment,

employment, production and exports, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Dec. 1.
Turkish exports reached an all-time high with $21.5 billion in November, up 33.4 percent year on year. Turkish exports hit $221 billion in the last 12 months.

Turkey’s foreign trade deficit decreased by 13.6 percent in the January-November period year on year and decreased to $39.2 billion.