Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek answered questions after the 2027-2029 period Medium Term Program (MTP) was announced by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz at the Presidential Complex. Providing information about the measures taken within the scope of savings measures in the public sector, Şimşek said that the perception of public savings due to cuts in investments is not correct.
SUPPORT TO SMES CONTINUES
Pointing out that the total rate of export credits has increased to 12 percent, Şimşek said, "We increased rediscount credits 17 times during the period when inflation did not increase 2 times. We did these by giving importance to production and exports. This year, we gave interest subsidies of 244 billion TL to our farmers. Similarly, 258 thousand tradesmen benefited from this. We stand by our industrialists and the producing sector. We will continue to support them." Noting that the industry went through a difficult period, but access to finance was selectively and strongly supported in order to support productive capacity, Şimşek stated that the share of SME loans in total loans increased from 24.6 percent in the long-term average to 27 percent today.
484 BILLION TL SAVINGS
Pointing out the success in public savings, Şimşek noted that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a strong will on this issue. Referring to the savings made in areas such as public vehicles, public buildings, communication expenses, travel expenses, energy, water, stationery and fixtures, Şimşek said, "In the 10 years before the Savings Circular, the share of these items in the budget expenditures was 4.6 percent. Today, the share of these items in the budget is 2.9 percent as of the end of 2025. When you look at current prices, this savings corresponds to 484 billion liras. This is actually "It corresponds to a larger savings than the budget of 6 ministries. Following the publication of the Savings Circular, we reduced the number of rental vehicles by 21 percent in the renewal process of rental vehicles whose contracts have expired."
ADULTS UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
Şimşek stated that they prioritize voluntary compliance while fighting against informality and that they do not have an approach to penalize those who have problems with tax compliance. Şimşek continued his words as follows: "So where is the audit concentrated? The perception in the field is different, but we audit 31 out of every 100 large companies. In other words, the audit rate in large companies is 31.3 percent for 2026. For example, in 2024, this was around 11 percent. Therefore, we tripled the audit rate in large companies. We increased it from 3.6 percent to 7.3 percent in medium-sized companies. Small businesses are also dealt with in society." There is a perception that there is no such thing. While the audit rate in small-scale companies was 2.1 percent in 2024, it decreased to 1.1 percent this year.
ÖMER BOLAT / Minister of Trade
OUR TARGET FOR 2029 IS 450 BILLION DOLLARS EXPORT
Minister of Commerce Ömer Bolat stated that the work carried out with the vision of development in the fields of investment, production, employment and exports regarding the new Medium Term Program (MTP) will be continued with determination. Bolat stated that their aim in the MTP is to continue the fight against inflation, which increases production costs and negatively affects the competitiveness of economic sectors. Informing that they aim to increase exports of goods and services to 450 billion dollars by 2029, Bolat said that efforts to develop fair and effective market conditions in domestic trade will continue.
VEDAT IŞIKHAN / Minister of Labor and Social Security
DETERMINED FIGHT AGAINST UNEMPLOYMENT
Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan emphasized that they have recently achieved significant success with the impact of the previous period's MTP, the National Employment Strategy and policies to improve working life, and said, "In line with the MTP covering the years 2027-2029, we will identify the needs of our workforce, take the necessary steps, increase our employment and continue our determined fight against unemployment. "In the coming period, we will strengthen the labor market in line with the changes in digital and new generation technologies, new generation working models and the needs of the sectors," he said.
MEHMET FATİH KACIR / Minister of Industry and Technology
GOAL IS SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
Minister of Industry and Technology Mehmet Fatih Kacır pointed out that strengthening the country's growth potential through technological transformation and productivity increase, ensuring price stability, maintaining financial discipline and ensuring permanent welfare increase are the main objectives of the program, and said, "We will continue to work in line with our country's sustainable growth targets, determinedly implementing policies that will further advance Türkiye's technology and production capacity, increase value-added production and our competitiveness."
İBRAHİM YUMAKLI / Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
AGRICULTURE WILL TRANSFORM INTO A STRATEGIC POWER
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı made an evaluation regarding the MTP for the period 2027-2029. Yumaklı, wishing the best of the MTP, which reveals the three-year road map of the economy, said: "In line with our Turkey Century targets, we will transform agriculture into a strategic power that is not only productive but also directs globally and is the locomotive of our economy. We will continue our work with determination to transform the sweat of our farmers into high added value and to build the 'Century of Abundance' in agriculture."
ABDÜLKADİR URALOĞLU / Minister of Transport and Infrastructure
WE WILL INCREASE COMPETITIVENESS
Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloğlu wished that the MTP would be beneficial to the country and nation. Uraloğlu said, "We will continue our transportation and infrastructure investments in harmony with this strong economic framework and support the increase of employment and production. We will continue to accelerate projects that will increase the competitiveness of our country in a wide field ranging from production to trade, from transportation to logistics. I hope that the program will further carry the economic power of our country and the welfare of our nation."
FATİH KARAHAN / CBRT President
THE EFFECT OF THE WAR ON INFLATION 7 POINTS
Fatih Karahan, President of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT), stated that they are talking about a global economy where supply shocks have been seen much more frequently and at higher levels in recent years, and said, "When we look at it since 2020, you can see this situation very clearly. It started with the pandemic, then the problems in supply chains, trade wars and the physical wars that took place this year. These have a serious impact on inflation. We calculate that this effect is close to 7 points this year."
