Turkey’s Economy: Prioritizing Structural Reforms and Long-Term Growth

During the Economic Coordination Board meeting, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, it was reiterated that structural reforms are a top priority in the government’s economic program. The attendees at the meeting included Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, and Industry Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır.

The meeting highlighted the need to accelerate the pace of structural reforms outlined in the medium-term economic program, with a goal of completing them by the first half of 2024. Currently, progress has been made on 20 of the 81 actions outlined in the program.

During discussion at the meeting, agricultural production planning and new support model were also discussed. This model involves setting target sufficiency ratios for strategic agricultural products to ensure sustainable production levels and reduce reliance on imports.

The economic program has shown positive results with improvements in current account deficit, international flows, reserves and risk indicators. The unemployment rate remains single digits and there are expectations of a significant decline in annual inflation in the second half of the year due to tight monetary policy.

In addition to this, “Public Savings and Efficiency Package” introduced to strengthen fiscal discipline is expected to contribute to disinflation process by increasing expenditure control and savings in public sector. This will also direct investments to priority areas to support economic growth. The government’s focus on structural reforms and economic stability is crucial for driving sustainable growth and development in country.

Overall, it was emphasized that addressing long-term issues such as debt reduction and improving competitiveness through investment should be given more importance while implementing economic policies for sustained growth prospects of Turkey’s economy.