Turkish firms enjoy greater access to external funds amid declining risk premium: President Erdogan

By Tuba Ongun and Necva Tastan

ANKARA (AA) — Turkish businesses' access to external financing is improving thanks to the recent gradual decline in Türkiye's risk premium, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Last week, Türkiye's five-year credit default swaps (CDS) — a form of insurance for bondholders — dipped below 280 basis points, marking its lowest level for over four years.

"We will focus on policies aimed at increasing qualified employment that will develop the skills and competencies needed in the labor market," Erdogan said at a general assembly meeting of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB) held in the capital Ankara.

Türkiye's official reserve assets surged to $127 billion last May, up from $97.1 billion, he stressed.

Noting that the government is taking "critical steps" to strengthen the medium-term economic program that it released last September, Erdogan said key focuses include increasing public savings, accelerating structural reforms, and allocating more investment funds to priority areas like food, agriculture, green and digital transformation.

"By maintaining fiscal discipline, we will increase the effectiveness of our monetary policy and robustly support the fight against inflation," he noted.

On Monday, Türkiye introduced a series of measures for "discipline in public spending" while also increasing efficiency amid efforts to tackle persistent inflation.