Turkish gov't announces new measures to protect business world

ANKARA

Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak

Turkey's Treasury and Finance Ministry, as well as Industry and Technology Ministry, have announced a series of measures to defend businesses amid the ongoing market and foreign exchange volatility.

“We have been continuing the implementation of our action plan put into effect in order to ease our banks and real sector after the exchange rate increase, as we have been continuing with the policies to neutralize the economic attacks on our country and make the fundamentals of our economy stronger,” the Treasury and Finance Ministry said in its statement on Aug. 17.

The package of measures aimed at easing the local credit market will be offered to the banks by the Banks Association of Turkey, it added.

The measures include keeping the credit channels open, providing elasticity in credit pricing and periods, not closing the credits in case of overdraft because of exchange rate increases, according to the statement.

Delayed payments, overdraft cheques and protested bills as of Aug. 8 will be reported to the Risk Center as “force majeure” because of the economic turmoil, thus firms’ access to credits will not be halted.

The Industry and Technology Ministry also announced a 16-point support package for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), entrepreneurs, and industrialists.

The package abides by tight fiscal policies and will not cause monetary expansion, the ministry said in a statement on Aug. 17.

"We are accelerating our moves for indigenous technology and localization in order to protect our technology entrepreneurs and industrialists from economic attacks on Turkey," said Mustafa Varank, the industry and technology minister.

Varank said the package will not impose any additional burden on Turkey's budget.

Analyzing over 2,700 product lines made up of Turkey's imports of intermediate goods, the ministry started a localization program for priority product lines equal to imports with a minimum value of $30 billion.

The package includes various measures such as price advantages for local products, averting unfair competition, improving the real sector's innovation and competition capabilities, updating the FX differences of R&D support, export incentives for SMEs, and encouraging patent, trademark, and design work.

It also aims to energize domestic potential by providing 500 million liras ($80 million) for 500 projects.

Focusing on technology development zones, the ministry will extend 100 million liras ($16 million) to them by the end of 2018.