Businesses take out 114 bln liras in loans under new scheme to boost growth: Minister

ISTANBUL

Over 157,000 companies have obtained 114 billion Turkish Liras ($31 billion) in loans under a new scheme to boost the economy through the Credit Guarantee Fund (KGF), Finance Minister Naci Ağbal has said. 

Speaking at a conference in Istanbul on April 12, Ağbal said a number of key incentives had been presented through different credit channels. 

“One of the key elements to support economic growth is loan volume. A slowdown in the loan volume in 2016 had a limited effect on GDP growth. In a bid to resolve this problem, we have launched a new key mechanism,” he said. 

“Through the Credit Guarantee Fund, we introduced a 250,000 billion-lira loan opportunity to businesses. As of yesterday, some 114 billion liras in loans were used by 157,000 companies through the Credit Guarantee Fund. The acceleration in the use of these loans in recent months has fueled our hopes for the upcoming months. We believe that this amount will hit 250 billion liras,” he added. 

Under the framework of Small and Medium Business Development and Support Administration (KOSGEB) loans, around 5 billion liras in cash was recently added to the economy, said Ağbal. 

“We also launched another loan package which aims to offer loans to some 500,000 businesses through KOSGEB in a bid to ease SMEs’ access to fresh loans. As of yesterday, around 186,000 SMEs had benefited from this loan package. In this vein, we have poured around 5 billion liras of cash into the economy. Based on the demands that are waiting at the banks for approval, I can say that we have already reached 241,000 SMEs,” he added. 

Ağbal also said there had been a positive trend in almost all economic indicators in the first quarter of 2017. 

“We have seen a revival trend in trade and production. There are fairly good developments on the exports side. Our exports, mainly to Europe, have been soaring,” he added. 

Ağbal also said the latest tax cuts were praised by all investors. 

The government recently extended tax cuts on home appliances and furniture for a further five-month period in a bid to stir sluggish consumer demand.