Statement from Cevdet Yılmaz regarding pension payments

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz responded to questions regarding pension payments.

Stating that they will continue to stand by retirees, Yılmaz said, "We will bring balance to SSK, Bağkur, and civil servant pension payments.

A legal regulation is needed for this. We are working on what we can do regarding the lowest pension of 7,500 liras. It will be discussed in the Cabinet in the coming days."

Sharing data from the World Bank's classification based on gross national income per capita, Yılmaz stated that Turkey is in the "Upper-Middle Income Economies" category and that the average annual growth rate was 5.4 percent.

Yılmaz made the following assessments:

"Our expectation for per capita income at the end of the Medium-Term Program (MTP) in 2026 is 15 thousand dollars. If we reach this target, Turkey will have crossed a new threshold in the medium term. It will have promoted from upper-middle-income economies to the league of high-income countries. Thresholds are difficult. But hopefully, Turkey will make this leap and will have joined the high-income economy league in the coming period in the medium term."

Touching on the unemployment rate, Yılmaz said they would increase employment. Noting that employment is approaching 32 million, Yılmaz noted that they would close the year with single-digit unemployment figures.

Stating that they continue to perform well in terms of growth, Yılmaz said, "When we look at the first 3 quarters, Turkey ranks 4th among G20 countries in terms of growth performance. It is the country with the 2nd best growth performance among OECD countries. Compared to many countries, Turkey is at a very good point in growth. But there is a slowdown in growth rates globally."

"EFFECTS TAKE TIME"

Stating that there was a serious increase in inflation on a monthly basis last summer, Yılmaz continued as follows:

"However, on the other hand, a new policy framework was introduced, and implementations began. The effects of these also take some time. The effect of new policies is not something that appears in a single day. These effects have started to come into play. We now see that these effects are becoming more efficient.

We can easily state that there is a significant loss of momentum on a monthly basis and a decline in inflation. Not on an annual basis yet, but on a monthly basis. We expect the effect on an annual basis around the middle of 2024. There will be a rapid decline in inflation."

"IT WAS DONE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE CONDITIONS AT THAT TIME"

Yılmaz stated that the Currency Protected Deposit (KKM) scheme was implemented temporarily for a period and was valid until a certain date, and continued his words as follows:

"It was designed as a temporary regulation from the beginning. It was an application made to meet the needs of the conditions at that time. It fulfilled its duty, and we have entered the process of exiting from it.

Since we do not want a sudden exit to create risks in financial markets because it has reached a very significant size, and because we are following an approach that respects the rights of savers, we are acting with a gradual exit strategy, and we see that the exit has accelerated in recent times."

Speaking about the budget deficit, Yılmaz said, "Our expectation in the MTP for 2023 is 6.4. 3 points of this appear to be the earthquake effect, and 3.4 points appear to be the normal deficit. We expect a budget deficit 1 point below 6.4 percent. It appears that our budget deficit will be realized at a much lower level than we anticipated."

Explaining their goals regarding the social investment score for banks, Yılmaz concluded his words as follows:

"Our goal is to ensure that more qualified loans are provided and to do this in a systematic way. This is not about scoring people; this is a score for banks rather than society.

Where are banks giving loans? We will look at whether they are going to places that are more beneficial from a social and societal perspective, or to places that are less beneficial. Banks that support investment, exports, and women's and youth entrepreneurship, and provide more loans, will have a higher social investment score."