ANKARA
"The Turkish government is not in panic," Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday, in response to the recent economic turmoil in Russia.
Ahmet Davutoglu announced a second round of extensive economic action plans and reaffirmed a commitment to fiscal discipline, after the Russian ruble lost 20 percent of its value on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference jointly held with seven cabinet ministers at Ankara Palace, Davutoglu said, “Turkey will not deviate from fiscal discipline in the face of declining oil prices.”
"The corporate sector's external debt in the country is 15 percent, which is a reasonable level. We do not see any risk. There are important policy tools in our hands. We take necessary measures when they are needed."
Davutoglu said that everything they do is in real terms. "Public fiscal balances are open. There is a deficit which declined to 1 percent from 11.5 percent. We never felt the need to take additional measures. We are ready to confront all things," he said.
- Government reveals 7 more economic action plans
The second group of the extensive economic action plans is comprised of seven packages with 25 prioritized structural reforms, which were presented by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan to the cabinet on Nov. 3.
The plans are mainly aimed at improving public services and making them more accessible.
It would also focus on accelerating the accumulation of capital, the industrialization process and to use the country’s resources in productive areas.
The government's action plans included increasing domestic savings at the national level and preventing wastefulness, rationalization of public expenditures, raising the quality of public revenue, improving the business and investment climate and the development of the statistical information infrastructure.
The plans also included reforms to ensure that the Istanbul International Financial Center becomes one of the top twenty-five in the global financial centers index.
According to the government, the action plans would be followed by further action plans in the coming months.
On November 6, Davutoglu announced an extensive array of economic action plans -- nine in total – ranging from technology development to logistics.
They aimed at increasing the production capacities of the real sector and limiting Turkey's dependence on imports.
Turkey has set itself an ambitious target to reach by 2023. The country aims to increase its total exports to $500 billion and make the economy into one the top 10 in the world.
The government's action plans aim to help Turkey reach these targets.
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