Mehmet Şimşek's comments on inflation: 'Who says it will go down?'

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek spoke at the Agriculture and Forestry Council in Ankara. Şimşek's statements regarding monetary policy and inflation have been widely discussed.

In his speech in Ankara, Şimşek made the following statement regarding inflation:

'Now they are criticizing, saying that inflation will not go down through monetary policy alone. Who says it will go down? When did we ever claim that? We have been saying from the very beginning that, on one hand, a rebalancing in growth is necessary. On the other hand, we must continue growth through investment, employment, and production, while prioritizing food, housing, and renewable energy.'

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek also gave messages regarding the economy. Şimşek said, "Since a significant portion of our exports goes to geographies outside of rule-based countries, we will be relatively less affected by protectionism in foreign trade compared to similar countries."

ŞİMŞEK: THE DOMESTIC MARKET IS THE DETERMINING FACTOR FOR US

Speaking at the IV. Agriculture and Forestry Council "Agricultural Economics Workshop" program in Ankara, Şimşek said, "Since a significant portion of our exports goes to geographies outside of rule-based countries, we will be relatively less affected by protectionism in foreign trade compared to similar countries. Turkey's dependence on exports is lower than that of similar countries. In generating our GDP, we have proceeded based on domestic demand rather than being export-based. The repercussions for us will be more limited compared to other countries, because the determining factor for us is the domestic market."

'MORE THAN 80 PERCENT OF OUR EXPORTS GO TO NEARBY AND FRIENDLY COUNTRIES'

Minister Şimşek said the following in response to investors' concerns:

"We have free trade agreements with a total of 54 countries outside the US and EU, and 68 percent of our exports go to these countries. More than 80 percent of our exports go to nearby and friendly countries.

'WE HAVE BROUGHT INFLATION UNDER CONTROL'

It is clear that we are facing a serious inflation problem, but first, we brought inflation under control. It was a control period, and we entered the disinflation period as of the second half of 2024. There is success in disinflation; it is proceeding close to the program. I do not think the recent turmoil will have a lasting effect. Inflation is clearly falling and will continue to fall because this is our top priority."