Türkiye on transition period to disinflation path, says finance minister

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Türkiye is still in a transition period to a disinflation path, the Turkish treasury and finance minister said, adding: "Disinflation will come, (as) monetary policy works, but it works with lags."

Addressing domestic and foreign investors at an event in Istanbul on Tuesday, Mehmet Simsek said Türkiye has a program aiming to achieve price stability, restore fiscal health, narrow the current account deficit, rebalance growth, and implement structural reforms to boost productivity and competitiveness.

"There has been a course correction in monetary policy. So we call it monetary policy normalization, which means tightening," he noted.

The compound interest rate is currently 56%, one year ahead of inflation which markets expect to be roughly about 38%, he noted, adding that the Central Bank thinks it has done enough in terms of rates.

"But of course, there is going to be additional support in the form of selective credit tightening and quantitative tightening," he noted.

The transition period will last until this June, and after that, there will be a speedy disinflation period, he underlined.

He also said Türkiye is reviewing expenditures and combating informal economic activity.

- Good infrastructure development

Saying that Türkiye needs investments in areas such as energy, fiber optics, and the green transition, Simsek invited the private sector to take part in Public-Private Partnerships projects in Türkiye.

"As the government, we have invested about $258 billion over the past 20 years in infrastructure, (and) as the government we need to invest another $200 billion," he noted.

Türkiye has done well in road infrastructure and airports, and it is building a high-speed railway network, which it needs to invest at least $70 billion into over the next 30 years, he said.

"Because that is key to competitiveness, that is also key to sustainability, and resilience," he added.

On the country's official reserves, he said they have improved significantly since last May.