'Shedding economic orthodoxy, Turkiye now forging its own way'

By Zeynep Cetinkaya and Merve Ozlem Cakir

ANKARA (AA) - Amid global changes, Turkiye has abandoned economic orthodox policies to forge its own way, the treasury and finance minister said on Wednesday.

"We will act on our own path with an understanding that shapes this change, not the path someone has drawn for us," Nureddin Nebati told the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association at a meeting in the capital Ankara.

The country will continue its own way in line with the country’s realities and internal dynamics and the international context, he explained.

It will do this by carrying out fiscal and monetary policies together, taking a wide range of measures, and especially not making concessions to budget discipline, said Nebati.

The nation’s growth trend will continue in 2022, which will see record gains with the application of Turkiye’s new economic model, he confidently predicted.

Citing the country's new export target of $250 billion for 2022, he stressed that the capacity utilization rate reached 80%, and that Turkiye can easily hit this target thanks to new investments.

- Export-oriented growth

Turkiye will continue to grow in an export-oriented manner, Nebati underlined, and added: "The current account deficit will fall below 2%, exports will continue to increase, thus domestic production will increase, the industry will develop, and employment will rise."

Amid changes in the global supply and value chains, Turkiye's aim is not just to keep up with this change, but to shape it, he stressed.

"This is what all the stakeholders and members of society should understand; Turkiye has determined its position as a leading and guiding role,” he said.

Turkiye has undergone a significant economic and structural transformation in recent years, and placed importance on policies that support research and development, he said.

"Now we have very important studies to support our production-oriented, manufacturing, and export-oriented companies with the new instruments we will bring," he explained.

Touching on inflation, he said the government's fight against high inflation will continue decisively.

Seeing inflation as just a Turkish problem is a mistake, he said, as many countries face the problem of rising prices, he stressed.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun in Istanbul