President Erdoğan pledges sharp slowdown in inflation

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Dec. 21 vowed to sharply decline the inflation in Türkiye in the upcoming months stressing that there were no obstacles to lowering the rate.

“We have made great efforts to remove the opportunistic causes of high inflation and cost of living,” Erdoğan said addressing his lawmakers at the parliament.

While the whole world is struggling with waves of economic crisis, Türkiye has reached its growth targets, Erdoğan said and added, “Even those who criticize our economic program have begun to give us our due.

“We cannot let the hikes in workers’, civil servants’ and pensions’ salaries melt away with the greed of opportunists. Except for rapidly reducing inflation to the levels we have determined, there has been no obstacle left,” he added.

“Hopefully, we will witness together that inflation will go downhill in the coming months. Let’s make 2023 the turning point of our liberation from the cost of living,” Erdoğan stated.

The president emphasized that the government had introduced new economic packages and noted that they introduced a package of 250 billion Turkish Liras for businesses.

Erdoğan called on the investors for new investments after the Central Bank reduced its benchmark rate to 9 percent.

“After the investment, employment comes, then the growth through production, exports and current account surplus. I believe Türkiye will close this year with 4-5 percent growth by the end of the year,” he said.

Erdoğan announced that he would discuss the new minimum wage with the minister of labor and clarify the new level on Dec. 22.

Stating that they have increased the installed power in energy more than three times to over 103,000 megawatts, Erdoğan said that they have increased the installed power of domestic and renewable energy to 65 percent.

Europe is currently “experiencing a natural gas disaster,” but Türkiye is not having difficulty in providing energy for its citizens, Erdoğan said.

“We expanded natural gas to 685 settlements, including 81 provinces. In the coming period, we will offer the Black Sea natural gas, the first unit of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, to the service of our citizens, and we will work until we completely eliminate our dependence on foreign energy with new discoveries and investments,” he stated.

With the goals for 2023, the government has introduced the services and projects many times more than what has been achieved in the Republic’s first century, Erdoğan said.

“With the Century of Türkiye vision as well as intending to make Türkiye one of the top 10 countries in the world, we are determined to put far greater gains at our nation’s disposal in our Republic’s new century,” he said.

“We wholeheartedly believe that providing our country with power and a say at a global scale by complementing all the elements of our democracy and development infrastructure is the most important legacy we will be leaving to future generations. This is the promise and the commitment we have made to our nation and the self-confidence and hope we work to instill in our youth,” the president stated.