Turkey unveils new economic prospective

ANKARA

Turkey’s new economic perspective was unveiled on Friday by the state’s top economic official, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak.

Speaking at an event introducing the "new economic model" at the Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul, Albayrak stated that their principle will be to maintain more effective and confidential communication with all market shareholders.

"Another of our principles is to provide full independence in monetary policies," he stressed.

Turkey will carry out tight monetary and fiscal policy and reestablish budget balances and boost its quality, he added.

During the speech, Albayrak also highlighted the independence of Turkey's Central Bank.

Turkey will prioritize structural reforms and strengthen financial stability, he said.

Albayrak announced three main phases to achieve the new economic prospective between 2018 and 2023: economic balance for 2018-2019, sustainable and healthy growth for 2020-2021, and a "fairer share" for 2022-2023.

Economic balance

Turkey will fight inflation, ensure fiscal discipline, and lower the current account deficit to provide economic balance, Albayrak underlined.

"We will recover the environment of confidence and boost productivity and savings."

Turkey also will deepen capital markets to diversify sources for financing public debt, he added.

Sustainable, healthy growth

According to the minister, the fields of strategic growth will be identified, especially those with value-added, strategic and technological output.

"We will focus on exports and cutting the current account deficit," he added.

The country's tax system will be also simplified and the government will aim for a productive Turkey, he stressed.

Fairer share

Saying that Turkey will start a transformation process in its tax system, Albayrak explained that this would result in a fairer tax system.

The number of indirect taxes will be cut, while the government will fight the underground economy and bring down unemployment.

He added that skilled human resources and a strong society will support the three main phases of Turkey's new economic perspective.