Türkiye Economy Model meets most targets, says minister

ANKARA

Most of the targets set out in the Türkiye Economy Model have been met, Treasury and Finance Minister Nurettin Nebati has said.

The Turkish economy has grown in the past 10 quarters, as investments are continuing, the minister told state broadcaster TRT Haber in an interview.

Exports, employment and growth remain strong, Nebati said, adding that production and exports continued despite the earthquakes.

The economy performed well even in February despite the ongoing war and the earthquakes, Nebati said, noting that the unemployment rate was 10 percent.

The powerful earthquakes hit several provinces in Türkiye’s south in early February, devastating businesses and killing over 50,000 people.

In the wake of the earthquakes, the government immediately allocated 100 billion Turkish Liras, and some 40 billion liras of those funding have already been utilized, the minister said. “We do not have problems regarding funds in the earthquake-hit areas.”

“We achieved this thanks to this model. The Türkiye Economy Model has become something that will set an example for the world,” Nebati added.

This time last year, the economies around the world were struggling with the adverse effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine and other issues, such as energy prices, food supply security and high commodity prices, he noted. “I was in the U.S. at that time. There were discussions about increasing interest rates, implementing policies to slow down economic growth, and restricting production.”

“Our plans were designed to boost growth by gradually lowering inflation. We said we would not cut interest rates. Now, the world is faced with the risks of higher interest rates. The collapse of the U.S. banks resulted from the rate hikes.”

‘Inflation to decline further’

The minister reiterated that the downward trend in inflation would continue, and the decline in prices would become more noticeable in May. “People noticed the downward move in inflation in December, and inflation expectations are improving now. Currently, inflation expectations are hovering around 10 percent.”

The annual inflation rate eased to 50.5 percent in March from 55.2 percent in February, after reaching 85.5 percent in October last year. The monthly price increase also slowed to 2.29 percent in March from 3.2 percent in February.