'Turkey set to close out 2019 in positive territory'

MALATYA, Turkey

Turkey will close out 2019 with positive growth figures, the country’s treasury and finance minister said on Thursday.

Turkey will continue to support industry and the real sector, and value-added production is the priority for growth, Berat Albayrak stressed in an event in the eastern Malatya province.

Amid success in bringing down inflation, the Central Bank has recently lowered interest rates significantly from 24% to 14%, he said.

After topping 25% last year, inflation has been gradually falling, from 20.3% this January to 9.26% in September.

Underlining that the country expects 8% inflation in October, he said: "In the coming days, Turkey will bring inflation down to single digits with reforms which will raise competition and productivity in the goods and services markets."

Under the new economic program released last month, Turkey’s inflation target for next year is 8.5%, followed by 6% in 2021 and 4.9% in 2022.

"We are moving step by step towards our targets despite the largest three currency attacks in history, threats, and sanctions," said Albayrak.

Last year, the economy faced issues due to U.S. sanctions related to the imprisonment of American Pastor Andrew Craig Brunson, who faced terrorism charges in Turkey.

Albayrak added: "We knew the potential of our country, we entered a full-scale fight, we fought against misinformation besides the economy."

Turkey prepared the country's new economic program with views and support from various economic sectors, he said.

"We put 'new' at the top of our economic program because the most important feature was a new vision," he underlined.

On Turkey’s foreign trade figures, he said: "In August 2019, we broke a record in our republic’s history by reaching a $5.1 billion annual current surplus."

Turkey boosted its exports and decreased imports despite the attacks and shrinking international trade, he stressed.

* Writing and contributions by Gokhan Ergocun from Istanbul