Turkey to tackle inflation, follow free market rules

Turkey will take steps to lower inflation and will follow free market rules as it acts to raise competitiveness and productivity, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said on Thursday after chairing a meeting of a key economic coordination board.

Since his election victory last month, President Tayyip Erdogan has appointed a new finance minister and central bank governor who are expected to pivot to a more orthodox policy after years of rate cuts that fueled a cost-of-living crisis.

In what were among the first remarks from the government’s economic team setting out its policies, Yilmaz said Ankara would maintain fiscal discipline and would implement a consistent set of policies.

“We will take effective and determined steps in the fight against inflation, which we see as the main problem,” Yilmaz said in closing remarks at the board meeting in the presidential palace.

Inflation touched a 24-year high of 85.5% last October and dropped to just below 40% in May. In comments this week, Erdogan said he was determined to lower inflation to single digits under a “low inflation, low interest rate” policy.

This report’s information was first seen on ZAWYA; to read more, click this link.