‘New economic administration’s priority is to reduce inflation’

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to bring inflation, which is currently running at below 40 percent, down to single digits.

“The first priority of our new economy administration is the resolution of this matter,” Erdoğan said, referring to inflation in a speech he delivered on June 17 at the General Assembly of Turkish Exporters Assembly (TİM) and Export Champions Award Ceremony.

Since the uncertainties related to the elections, which were held in May, are now over, “our hand is stronger,” Erdoğan said.

Inflation has been a global headache and also for Türkiye, the president noted, adding that the new economic team will prioritize reducing inflation.

The annual inflation rate, which hit 86 percent last year, slowed from 43.7 percent in April to 39.6 percent in May as consumer prices rose only 0.04 percent last month.

The negative impacts of the earthquakes on the Turkish economy are weakening, Erdoğan also said in his speech, adding that despite the country having experienced ”the disaster of the century,” exports maintain their strong course.

“We will march towards our goals on the axis of growth through investment, employment, production, exports and current account surplus,” he said.

“We will minimize the burden of energy, our biggest problem in foreign trade, with the Black Sea natural gas, Gabar oil, the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant and renewable resources,” he added.

Higher export targets

Despite the global negative economic outlook, Türkiye wants to achieve $265 billion worth of exports by the end of this year and $285 billion in export revenues by the next year, according to the president. “Our goal for 2028 is to achieve $400 billion and more.”

Erdoğan stressed that Türkiye’s steps in foreign policy over the past 21 years have contributed a lot to its exports.

“For instance, while the number of our embassies in Africa increased from 12 to 44, our trade volume rose from $4.3 billion to $40 billion. While the number of our embassies has reached 18, which was six, in Latin America, our trade volume has increased to $17.4 billion from $800 million.”

He also noted that Türkiye’s trade volume with Asia has risen by 40 percent since 2019, which was the year when the government announced its Asia Anew strategy.

The same applies to every geography where diplomatic relations are established or strengthened, Erdoğan said. “The wider Türkiye’s diplomatic representation network is, the more its exports are.”

Another area in which the government has big goals is the export of healthcare services, Erdoğan said.

“We want to make our country a global center in healthcare tourism. We now have a goal of $10 billion worth of healthcare tourism with our hospitals, thermal facilities and other healthcare services.”

He noted that Türkiye will welcome 2 million healthcare tourists and $3 billion in revenues from healthcare services exports in 2023.