Turkey aims to drop inflation rate to single digits

By Sebahatdin Zeyrek

DENIZLI, Turkey (AA) - Turkey's Economic Coordination Committee, under the presidency of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, has taken steps to decrease the rate of inflation to single digits, Nihat Zeybekci, the country's economy minister said on Wednesday.

The released inflation figures were, of course, not the numbers we were predicting for the first half of the year in the medium-term program, he stressed.

Within the scope of the decisions, the government will take several steps, he said adding:

"We will raise product supply, support greenhouses, minimize agricultural production losses, and avoid speculations," he said.

He added that they would regulate processes of classifying, packing, storing, and transporting products to reduce losses.

"The inflation stemmed from the paucity of production and supply, not from demand surplus," Zeybekci said.

He underlined that the incentives will support investments in order to reduce foreign dependency.

The 135-billion-Turkish lira ($33.6 billion) incentive package, which will support 23 projects by 19 selected Turkish firms, was revealed in April.

It is expected that the incentive package will narrow Turkey's current deficit by nearly $19 billion as they are expected to boost exports by $6.3 billion and cut imports by $12.3 billion.

"The fight against inflation is the top priority for us. In other words, we never choose between 'growth or inflation' [...] Both are absolutely indispensable for us."

The country's annual inflation rate was 12.15 percent in May, up from 10.85 percent in April, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.

*Gokhan Ergocun and Jeyhun Aliyev contributed to the story from Ankara.