Erdoğan addresses retirees, unable to provide a date for single-digit inflation

Highlights from Erdoğan's speech...

AKP Chairman and President Erdoğan stated, "Our economy grew by 4.5 percent despite the earthquakes we experienced on February 6, which also affected Elazig, and the conflicts in the region."

Stating, "We will do more for retirees," Erdoğan said, "Our goal as Turkey is to bring inflation back down to single-digit rates without harming our citizens' food, bread, or jobs."

"OUR ECONOMY GREW BY 4.5 PERCENT"

We are working with all our might, day and night, to build the Century of Turkey. Thank God, we are constantly achieving new successes in the economy, defense industry, exports, employment, production, environment, and urban planning. Did our 5th generation fighter jet Kaan meet the skies in recent weeks?

Turkey thus became one of the world's top 4 countries in this field. Where is this CHP, where are the others? Hopefully, we will begin including Kaan in our fighter jet fleet in 2028.

Our economy grew by 4.5 percent despite the earthquakes we experienced on February 6, which also affected Elazig, and the conflicts in the region. Our national income exceeded the 1 trillion dollar threshold for the first time, reaching 1 trillion 119 billion dollars. Our exports continue to increase steadily, and our current account deficit continues to improve consistently.

"BRINGING DOWN INFLATION IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WILL HAPPEN OVERNIGHT"

The negative effects of the COVID pandemic and the subsequent war that began between Russia and Ukraine continue in the economy.

From Europe to America, everyone is looking for ways to curb inflation. Bringing down inflation is not something that will happen overnight.

Our goal as Turkey is to bring inflation back down to single-digit rates without experiencing a loss of momentum in terms of production, employment, and exports, and without harming our citizens' food, bread, or jobs. Hopefully, by being a little more patient, we will reach this goal.

Just as we kept it in single digits before, we will succeed again. Of course, we are not saying everything is perfect. We know the difficulties of our citizens, especially our workers and retirees. By stretching our budget resources, we have taken and are taking various steps to lighten the burden on our retirees.

"THE ADDITIONAL RESOURCE FOR THESE IMPROVEMENTS REACHED 300 BILLION LIRA"

At the beginning of the year, we made a 5 thousand lira payment to each of our retirees. Regardless of whether they are SSK, Bağ-Kur, or Emekli Sandığı, all our retirees received a 49.25 percent raise in their salaries for the first 6 months of 2024. We increased the lowest pension to 10 thousand lira. We went for a 50 percent increase in the holiday bonuses of our retirees, which we implemented for the first time.

The additional resource for these improvements alone reached 300 billion lira. As our budget opportunities expand and our state's revenues increase, we will hopefully do much more.

I want our retirees to know this; we are not dream merchants like the opposition. We cannot lie to our nation just for the sake of votes. We cannot make empty promises. We have always been honest, sincere, and genuine so far. We have spoken to our citizens with the language of the heart and with an open heart.

We will join hands and solve our problems together. As long as we do not let anyone come between us. Let us preserve our unity and solidarity. The rest is easy with God's permission.

News Source: AA