New medium-term program to set new targets, VP Yılmaz

ANKARA

The government will unveil a new medium-term program in September with updated macroeconomic targets, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said.

“Our expectation is that the new program will reduce uncertainties and offer a predictable framework for investors and all actors involved. We will unveil structural reforms which will boost confidence in Türkiye,” Yılmaz said in an interview with private broadcaster A Haber on July 16.

The updated program will set forth new targets for the next three years, such as fiscal policies, the budget, deficits and public debt stock, according to Yılmaz.

The new medium-term program will also offer a new framework for monetary policy, the vice president said.

After the medium-term program, the government will submit the budget for 2024 to parliament, he added.

Yılmaz reiterated that policies aimed at tightening will continue. “This process will move ahead in a balanced way and the Central Bank will be in charge of it.”

Commenting on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s tour of Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, Yılmaz said the president’s visit will further strengthen cooperation between Türkiye and those countries.

“Those visits will yield good results in terms of investment.”

Yılmaz earlier this month traveled to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar together with Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.

“There are opportunities in several fields for cooperation [with those countries]. Tech teams [from those nations] later visited Türkiye and held talks with their Turkish counterparts. There will be significant investment inflows into Türkiye,” Yılmaz said.

Türkiye does not choose one region in the world over another, Yılmaz noted. “We never hesitate to act to seize opportunities wherever they emerge.”

The government will intensify efforts for the updating of the customs union and visa liberalization with the European Union. "The existing customs union only includes industry. The new customs union’s scope will be widened to include services and public procurements. It will provide more comprehensive economic cooperation. It will be in the interest of both sides.”

Yılmaz bluntly rejected speculations in the foreign media suggesting that Türkiye greenlighted Sweden’s NATO membership in exchange for a credit line worth between $11 billion to $13 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“Our president in 2013 put an end to the relations with the IMF by clearing Türkiye’s debt to the fund. Since then, Türkiye continued its path without the IMF. Türkiye has successfully managed its economy,” Yılmaz said.