Finance minister vows to boost purchasing power

ANKARA

Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati has vowed to bolster people’s purchasing power, reiterating the government’s determination to curb rampant inflation.

Speaking at the General Assembly of the Participation Banks’ Association of Turkey in Istanbul, Nebati said that energy, commodity prices and transport costs are pushing inflation to record levels across the world. “Inflation will remain one of the main issues dominating Turkey’s and the world’s agenda in 2022,” he said.

“In the face of those global developments, we are using our resources in the most efficient ways, subsidizing costs and supporting our industrialists. We are also providing financial assistance for natural gas consumption to households,” he said.

The minister added that inflation is not a matter that only the state could resolve, as it requires coordinated efforts involving all stakeholders.
“We will boost people’s purchasing power level more than before. Our priority is to bring inflation under control definitely and move toward our targets. We are aware of how important financial stability is to meet the macroeconomic targets we set,” Nebati said.

The minister added that the volatility in foreign exchange rates is one of the main factors, affecting inflation.

“Thanks to the FX-protected lira deposit scheme and other measures taken, we managed to prevent this volatility to a great extent.”

One of the main reasons for the rise in inflation is the deterioration in expectations, Nebati said.

“Our aim now is to help improve the expectations for the inflation outlook.”
Consumer prices increased by 7.35 percent in April from the previous month, bringing the annual inflation rate to 69.97 percent from 61.1 percent in March.

Last month, the Central Bank lifted its inflation forecast for 2022 from 23.2 percent to 42.8 percent. It also revised upwards its forecast for 2023 from 8.3 percent to 12.9 percent.