Turkiye must avoid recession while fighting inflation, VP says

Turkiye must sustain its push on production and exports to prevent the economy falling into recession even as it fights inflation, Vice President, Cevdet Yilmaz, said on Friday, Reuters reports.

According to the report, Erdogan said, after a cabinet meeting this week, that the government will lower inflation to single digits but will not sacrifice economic growth and employment, comments which were echoed by Yilmaz.

“While fighting inflation we are making an effort to sustain production and exports so as not to fall into recession. We must do both at the same time,” the Vice President told reporters after meeting bankers in Istanbul.

Since the May elections, President Tayyip Erdogan’s government launched a U-turn away from unorthodox policies, including interest rate cuts that had sparked a lira crisis and sent inflation soaring.

Since June, the Central Bank has reversed and hiked its policy rate by 900 basis points to address inflation, which leapt to a 25-year high above 85 per cent last year and is expected to rise again to a peak above 60 per cent in 2024.

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