Exporters to benefit from loan package: Minister

ISTANBUL

Businesses that earn revenues in foreign currencies, particularly exporters and tourism companies, will be granted cheap loans, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said at a meeting in the Black Sea province of Samsun on April 15.

Loans with interest rates as low as 9 percent will be provided for companies operating in the fields of manufacturing, exports, tourism, technology and agriculture, he told a group of businesspeople.

The 150 billion Turkish-Lira (about $10.2 billion) loan package will be prepared in cooperation with state lenders and development banks, the minister said. Credit expansion in March was 20.1 percent, whereas expansion in consumer loans was around 16 percent, according to Nebati’s remarks.

“We want loans to be used in production sectors. While the increase in commercial loans was 6.5 percent, the figure was 11.3 percent in the manufacturing sector in March,” he said.

He also urged the businesspeople to stop making transactions in foreign currencies and opt for lira-denominated loans.
After stabilizing the value of the lira, the government will focus on bringing down the inflation rate, he said.

Led by energy costs and food prices, Turkey’s annual inflation rose to 61.1 percent in March, a new 20-year high. The government’s new approach, dubbed as Turkey Economy Model, prioritizes a current account surplus, increasing exports, GDP growth and expansion in employment, while keeping interest rates low.