Turkish gov’t to announce new economic reforms this week, says PM

ANKARA - Reuters

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Turkey’s government will announce a nine-package plan of structural economic reforms on Nov. 6, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has announced, adding that the first package would focus on limiting the Turkish economy’s dependence on imports.

“We will announce a detailed plan for structural economic moves this Thursday. This plan will be composed of nine packages with 25 prioritized structural reforms,” Davutoğlu said during his Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) group meeting in Parliament on Nov. 4.

The draft of the nine-package plan was presented by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan to the Cabinet on Nov. 3 and the entire plan will be announced to the public on Nov. 6, Davutoğlu added.

These reforms will be followed by further packages in the coming months, he noted.

“The first package will focus on decreasing the dependence of Turkish economy on imports and increasing the production capacities of the real sector. This will enable Turkey to reduce its current account gap further,” Davutoğlu said.

“The focus of the other packages in the plan will be on technological commercialization, the technology appetite of the state, energy production with local means, energy saving policies and health tourism, among others,” he added.