İYİ Party Deputy Chairman Erhan Usta criticized the Medium Term Program (MTP) announced by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and pointed out that inflation dropped only 6.7 points despite the 38-month economic program. The master stated that the program "does not work" and commented, "This is clearly incompetence."
In his statement on the subject, Usta reminded that the Medium Term Program was prepared for 3-year periods and stated that targets were set for the next 3-year period with the ÖVP announced today.
INFLATION DECREASED BY 6.7 PERCENT IN 38 MONTHS
Pointing out that the last program started to be implemented 38 months ago, Usta said:
"Exactly 38 months have passed on the Mehmet Şimşek program. After 38 months, the decrease in inflation is only 6.7 points. The last announced inflation figure is 31.5 percent. They say that inflation will be 28.4 percent by the end of this year. However, last year, in the Medium Term Program, they told us that inflation would be 16 percent for 2026. There is an inflation that has been revised and increased from 16 to 28.4 percent. 28.4 percent will happen. No, it will not happen. We will see inflation again at the end of the year, it will be at least 30 percent.
A very high interest policy was implemented for 38 months. Türkiye's dollars flowed abroad as interest. What else was done? It was not given to farmers, it was not given to tradesmen, it was not given to civil servants, it was not given to workers, it was not given to retirees. So he got bored, he got bored, he got bored, but inflation fell only 6.7 points in 38 months. Of course, the basis for this is that the program is not working, that the program is not comprehensive, but most importantly, the lack of trust in Erdoğan is the main factor in this failure.
'THEY CONSTANTLY MAKE EXCUSES'
We saw today that both Mehmet Şimşek and Cevdet Yılmaz are constantly making excuses. They constantly make excuses as to why they could not reduce inflation and why growth was low. I will tell them this; If you devoted the time you spend making excuses to solving the country's problems, you would do more work. You would have contributed more to the country. They said drought, they said frost, they said there was rain, they said war. You say warring countries. Inflation in Ukraine is 7.7 percent. Inflation in Russia is 6 percent. America-Iran war is one side. What is the inflation rate there? 3.4 percent. Why is inflation 31.5 percent in our country? If we have more inflation than the warring countries and you use the war as an excuse, you are actually making a confession. Do you know what the name of that confession is? Türkiye's economy is very unhealthy. When something small happens around us, our countries are affected more than the country where the incident occurs.
'SO THAT YOU WILL LAXATE YOUR OWN PERIOD...'
If this is true, this is a very serious situation. If it is not true, if you are lying to the nation, that is another situation. Mehmet Şimşek constantly threatens us by saying, "If we did not implement this program in 2023, inflation would get out of control." 3 years have passed. You have been implementing the program for 38 months. It is still said that 'Inflation could have gotten out of control'. It is impossible to understand these. Why could inflation get out of control? Mehmet Şimşek basically says this; 'Before me, this country was so badly managed that when we arrived we received a huge wreckage. "Thank God we prevented inflation from getting out of control," he says.
Mr. Mehmet Şimşek, who was ruling this country before you? Was there another government? Weren't there AK Party governments again? Wasn't Erdoğan there again? What kind of job is this? What kind of understanding is this? It is impossible to understand this. You constantly blame other periods so that you can exonerate your own period. But at another time you say that 25 years of uninterrupted power. Make a decision. Did you really inherit a wreck from the previous period, or have you been ruling this country uninterruptedly for 25 years? You also have to decide on this.
'THIS IS CALLED CLEAR INCOMPLETE'
In the Medium Term Program, growth figures for both 2026 and the next 3 years are drawn downwards. However, inflation figures are being increased in response. It is being pushed upwards. This is not understandable. You know, growth is very high, you grow more than expected. You might say that our inflation was high as a price for this. Or you can bring inflation down a lot. You reduce inflation more than you anticipated. You say this came at a cost. Sir, we fought inflation very hard. We brought inflation down. That's why you say growth also dropped. But what does it mean to bring down growth, that is, to bring up inflation? In other words, you will both push inflation up, or rather raise inflation forecasts, and push growth down. This is explained by incompetence. This is clearly incompetence.
Let's come to the inflation of 2027. Last year, we were told that inflation in 2027 would be 9 percent. It was said that we would fall to single digits. Now it is said that inflation will be 21 percent next year. For God's sake, can a figure be revised from 9 percent to 21 percent?
Cevdet Yılmaz says, 'We will tell young people the value of labor.' Gee. Well, young people already know the value of labor. Young people want to work. You are the one who does not know the value of labor. We have not been able to get you to talk about the idle labor rate figures until now. Does the Turkish Statistical Institute explain this? Explains. Is it the official figure of the state? digit. You denied it for years and ignored the idle labor rate. Because idle labor rates show the real picture of Türkiye's employment market. The latest idle labor rate figure came in July 2026 at 30.6. In other words, 30.6 percent, approximately 1/3, of the workforce is idle, says the Turkish Statistical Institute, and you turn a deaf ear to it.
Well, according to the latest data, what was the idle workforce rate of 30.6 when Mehmet Şimşek took office, that is, in July 2023? It was 22.9 percent. In other words, the impact of the Mehmet Şimşek program on the idle workforce was 7.8 points. And they come out and say, we will increase employment by this much. The data is clear. So, while your incompetence and failure are obvious, what do you tell us about the next period?
The idle labor rate was first announced in 2014. 12 years have passed and the idle workforce rate has doubled proportionally. Yes, there is idle labor, that is, labor that does not work. In other words, there is an idle workforce today that is twice the rate in 2014. So there is a workforce that is not working. In other words, we keep our most important resource, human resources, waiting in inertia. Turkish Statistical Institute tells us this very clearly.
'WHO DOES THIS PROGRAM WORK FOR?'
There is something stable and consistent in these Medium Term Programs. Do you know what that is? 'Everything will be fine after 3 years. Growth will be 5 percent after 3 years. The budget deficit will fall below 3 percent in 3 years. Inflation will reach single digits in 3 years.' They tell us this in every Medium Term Program. They keep pushing it to 3 years later. Continuously 3 years later. It is impossible to understand when this will come after 3 years. In 2023, they were saying 'inflation will be single digit in 2026'. They were saying 'it will be 8.5'. Today they say 2026 inflation is 28.4 percent. I mean, they always say 3 years later, but these 3 years never came. We could never see 5 percent inflation. We could never see a budget deficit below 3 percent. We could never see single-digit inflation. Now they say the same thing again. They tell us the same story 3 years later.
So, is such a program reliable? Of course it's unreliable. People who constantly say that things will be better in 3 years cannot be trusted. The liar's candle burns until nightfall. Isha has already come and gone. Does this program work? The program does not work for citizens, it does not work for retirees, it does not work for civil servants, it does not work for workers, it does not work for tradesmen, it does not work for farmers, it does not work for exporters. The exchange rate policy implemented is great, you have been keeping the exchange rate low for 3 years. The exchange rate policy implemented harassed the exporters and the industrialists. Now everyone is going bankrupt. It doesn't work for them either. Who does this program work for? He works for those who have money. He works for those who make money from money. Not for those who produce or invest. He works for those who make money from money. They especially bring dollars from abroad and exchange them at home. They buy it at high interest. Then they convert it into dollars at a low exchange rate and take it abroad again. We call these carry traders. This program works, yes. Who does he work for? It works for carry traders.
