Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz stated, “There has been an attempt to create a speculative atmosphere lately. No one should pay attention to this, the numbers speak for themselves. Our need for foreign currency has decreased. Our access to foreign currency has increased. There is no hesitation here,” he said.
Kocaeli Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, who visited the Kocaeli Governorship as part of his contacts, was greeted by a police squad. Yılmaz, after signing the honor book, received information from Governor Seddar Yavuz about the activities in the city.
Later, Yılmaz attended the Kocaeli Business World Meeting held at the Kocaeli Congress Center, where he said that in the last 3-4 years, growth and trade have been below historical averages worldwide.
Yılmaz explained that the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent recovery processes, along with the tight monetary policies implemented by countries against the inflation it caused, have narrowed growth and trade.
Stating that the Ukraine-Russia war has affected the whole world and the global economy, Yılmaz said, “On the other hand, the scenes that deeply affect all of us in the Gulf, especially what is happening in Gaza. These are, of course, negative developments that we face.”
Yılmaz also noted that last year, earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş occurred in Turkey, and they are trying to heal the wounds of the disaster.
Yılmaz emphasized that there was about 3% growth in the global economy last year, whereas the Turkish economy recorded a growth of 4.5%, saying:
“We are aiming for a growth composition that does not support inflation but rather supports disinflation. Within this framework, we want the relative share of consumption expenditures to decrease, and we desire more contribution from investment and exports to our growth. We have a policy set in this direction. I can say that there have been developments in this direction. The increase in fixed capital investments in the last quarter of last year was 10.7%. The increase in machinery and equipment investments was 14%. These are really positive figures. They indicate that investment is taking a greater share in our growth and national income. Our consumer spending also experienced single-digit growth for the first time after a certain period. We still have high consumption, but at least it has dropped to single digits.”
“Disinflation process will start” Yılmaz emphasized that they have started their fight against inflation decisively and updated their policies, continuing his words:
“However, we must also honestly say this; fighting inflation takes time all over the world. This is not unique to us. Lowering inflation that has reached a certain level is a matter of process. We started this struggle right after forming the government, after the May elections. We have started to see the effects on a monthly basis where we stand now. January and February were slightly above our expectations for this year. Indeed, our Central Bank took a position on this immediately, took some tightening measures, and immediately put measures in place to return to our path.”
Yılmaz stated that the annual decline will occur around June-July, and a significant decrease will be seen in the second half of the year, saying, “The disinflation process will start. Our target in our Medium-Term Program for 2025 is around 15% inflation, and by 2026, we will return to single-digit inflation rates. We are not saying this just for the sake of it. We have formed the plan, program, and policy set for this. We are implementing it decisively. Together, we will see the results.”
Yılmaz emphasized that Turkey’s foundations are solid, saying, “Nevertheless, there has been an attempt to create a speculative atmosphere lately. No one should pay attention to this, the numbers speak for themselves. Our need for foreign currency has decreased. Our access to foreign currency has increased. There is no hesitation here,” he said.
Yılmaz emphasized that the banking system is sound, and the capital structure is strong. Mentioning that the non-performing loan ratio is also low, Vice President Yılmaz said:
“With all these, you are witnessing a decrease in credit risk premium in CDS in recent periods. There are also positive developments and steps in the evaluations of credit rating agencies regarding Turkey. Fitch recently upgraded it by one notch and turned its outlook to positive. This will be the solution in the future.”
source: aa.com.tr/ prepared by Melisa Beğiç