Elvan: We Expect 0.3 Percent Growth

Elvan: We Expect 0.3 Percent Growth Minister of Treasury and Finance Lütfi Elvan said “we expect 0.3 percent growth in 2020.” Speaking in the presentation of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance at the TBMM Plan and Budget Committee, Elvan touched on the issue of combating inflation. Lütfi Elvan said that the growth process will not contradict the fight against inflation. Stating that the recovery in consumption, investment and exports in the second half of 2020 will positively affect growth, the prominent statements from Minister Elvan's speech were as follows: “We are expecting the growth to be 0.3 percent in 2020. We will enter a period of stable growth in 2022 and 2023. Unemployment will decline to 10.9 percent at the end of the New Economy Program period. In the upcoming period, we aim to reflect growth on welfare, especially with the increase in employment. One of our main targets is to reduce inflation to low single digits permanently. Travel revenues, which were realized as 29.8 billion dollars in 2019, will be around 10 billion dollars in 2020. In line with these developments, we estimate that the current account balance will be slightly higher than the New Economy Program forecast at the end of 2020 due to the high gold imports, exports of goods, foreign trade balance and the shrinkage in travel revenues. By the end of 2020, the budget deficit will increase temporarily. We estimate the year-end budget deficit / GDP ratio to be less than 4.9 percent.   “We Will Implement Structural Reforms” We will implement structural reforms to improve the investment environment for both domestic and international entrepreneurs. Our domestic debt rollover ratio in 2021, with the help of our current high liquidity level, is planned to be 120 percent, which is below the budget deficit implied; The aim is to reduce the share of foreign currency-denominated domestic debt in both the amount and total debt stock. We will ensure that our risk premium is reduced through economic policies that we will implement in a transparent, predictable and stable manner. We will implement transformation programs that will ensure price stability, maintain fiscal discipline, increase coordination in monetary and fiscal policies, improve the investment environment, and eliminate the negative effects of the epidemic while increasing the production-oriented income generation potential. We aim to make a resource commitment of 2 billion lira by the end of 2023 with direct resource transfer to Venture Capital Funds. The steps taken towards establishing a user-oriented and sustainable statistical system in line with international standards will be strengthened and developed rapidly.”