Turkey aims to provide jobs to 3.2 million people

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The Turkish government aims to provide employment for 3.2 million people in the next three years, Turkey’s Finance Minister has said.

“The most significant result of our growth target will show itself in employment. In this context, we aim to create extra employment for 3.2 million citizens in the upcoming three years. Thus, we will increase the number of employed to 31.4 million,” Naci Ağbal said while presenting the budget to the parliament’s Planning and Budget Commission.

Turkey will reduce its unemployment rate to a single digit figure by increasing employment, Ağbal stressed.

The targeted annual unemployment rate at the end of 2017 is 10.8 percent, 10.5 percent for next year, 9.9 percent for 2019 and 9.6 percent for 2020, according to Turkey’s Medium Term Program (MTP).

Unemployment rate in Turkey was at 10.7 percent in July, with 28.7 million people out of jobs, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Ağbal said the government had increased employment opportunities thanks to a strong growth performance and active labor force policies and incentives.

The government has provided employment for 7.9 million people since 2007 and 1.1 million in the past year, Ağbal said.

He added that Turkey became the top country among OECD members in terms of providing employment with an average increase of 3.4 percent annually between 2007 and 2017.

The number of employed people in Turkey increased to 27.2 million in 2016, up from 24.8 million in 2012, according to TÜİK.