He asked for patience again: Erdoğan gives a new date for inflation
In his statement to journalists upon returning from the G20 Summit, President Erdoğan provided a new date for when inflation will fall. Asking for patience once more, Erdoğan said, "God willing, we will see very clearly at this time next year that inflation has fallen permanently."
12punto
Returning to Turkey after the G20 Summit held in India, President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made important statements on the plane regarding many issues, primarily the economy. Touching upon the Medium-Term Program announced last week, President Erdoğan said the following:
“IT HAS CREATED A VERY POSITIVE REACTION”
With disinflation, God willing, we will break the back of inflation; we have no concerns about this. The Medium-Term Program has created a very, very positive reaction not only in our country but also in the world, and with this reaction created by the Medium-Term Program, a different vitality has come and is coming to the markets. Also, the flow of credit from abroad to Turkey is hopefully starting.
“CASH INFLOW WILL INCREASE”
Both the meeting we held here with Saudi Arabia and the meetings we held with the United Arab Emirates went very, very productively. Hopefully, the agreements we have made will both attract significant investments to Turkey and increase cash inflow, God willing.
“WE WILL MAINTAIN FISCAL DISCIPLINE”
I believe that with the policies we are implementing, we will gain investor confidence very strongly. Our biggest advantage here is the broad ownership of the program. We have announced a three-legged program. The first leg is, of course, that we will maintain fiscal discipline while healing the wounds of the earthquake, despite the earthquake. Our deficits will be high for 2-3 years, but after that, we will very easily meet the Maastricht Criteria.
“WE NEED TO BE PATIENT”
Our debt-to-GDP ratio is already quite low. The second issue is the fight against inflation, that is, the disinflation program... There is a very clear roadmap for this as well. There are many measures we have taken regarding this, such as monetary policy, i.e., quantitative tightening and selective credit tightening. It will take time for these to be effective. The effect of measures taken in monetary policy is delayed. Therefore, this process is the same in all countries; it will take some time. That is why we need to be a little patient.
“WE WILL HAVE A DIFFICULT PROCESS”
At this time next year, God willing, we will see very clearly that inflation has fallen permanently. The third issue is, of course, structural reforms... Structural reforms will strongly support fiscal policy and monetary policy. I believe that Turkey's credit rating will have to be raised very significantly in the coming period. Because Turkey's indicators will very clearly deserve a credit rating far beyond the current one over time. Fund flow to Turkey will start strongly. We will have a somewhat difficult process regarding inflation; we accept this.
HE FAILED AGAIN
Speaking at an event he attended last June, President Erdoğan had said, "With the realizations in December and January, we will have left behind the burden that inflation has placed on our backs to a significant extent starting from February and March 2023."