“We proceed calmly and patiently regardless of crises”
Addressing the 28th Ordinary General Assembly of MUSIAD, President Erdoğan said: “As the government, we, thank Allah, possess in abundance the plans and programmes as well as the experience and determination to safely steer the ship to the harbor through turbulent waters. We proceed calmly and patiently regardless of the crises that erupt daily.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at the 28th Ordinary General Assembly of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MUSIAD) in Istanbul.
“GLOBAL ECONOMY IS TRYING TO NAVIGATE THROUGH STORMY SEAS”
“The world is going through a critical period marked by transformations that are as painful as they are historic. Thank Allah, we settled the health aspect of the coronavirus pandemic, which upended our lives, three years ago. However, ramifications of the earthquake the pandemic triggered in global economy are still visible. Protectionist policies are on the rise in commerce. The resistance in inflation, reaching the highest level in the last six or seven decades, couldn’t be broken yet. The fear of inflation has turned into a main determinant of economic policies in many countries, including developed ones. The climate of uncertainty is likely to persist for some more time because of the adverse effects of the showdown triggered by customs tariffs. Risks and threats are aggravating not only in economy but also across a wide spectrum extending from international relations to politics and social movements. We see that the global economy is trying to navigate through stormy seas. It will take some time for things to fall into place and for the waters to calm down. Taking this fact into consideration, we believe, will be the smartest path to take while doing our projections for the near future,” President Erdoğan said.
“WE HAVE INCREASED OUR RESILIENCE AGAINST SHOCKS AND SECURED FISCAL STABILITY”
President Erdoğan stated: “As the government, we, thank Allah, possess in abundance the plans and programmes as well as the experience and determination to safely steer the ship to the harbor through turbulent waters. We proceed calmly and patiently regardless of the crises that erupt daily. We implement our decisions by calculating pros and cons on an extremely rational basis. With the stability and reform programme we implemented two years, we have strengthened the foundations of our economy, decreased our external fragility, increased our resilience against shocks, and secured fiscal stability. Therefore, we have created a strong basis for lasting and sustainable growth. One of the main goals of the programme is to save our citizens from the scourge of living cost for good. We have covered significant distance on the path to achieving this goal over the past two years. Annual inflation has been falling for 11 consecutive months, reaching in April the lowest point in the last 40 months.”
President Erdoğan went on: “Likewise, we never compromise our financial discipline, either, which is another priority for us. While healing the wounds of the earthquake, we maintain, with the same determination this year as well, the spending discipline and saving measures that we initiated last year. Informal economy has been one of the top chronic problems of our country for many years. Informal economy, above all, means unfair competition. The state’s duty is to protect those who pay their taxes accurately and regularly, those who keep their accounts properly, and those who abide by the rules in their actions. Ignoring informal economy would mean allowing such people’s rights to be usurped. That is why we cannot back down from the fight against informal economy. We have a positive outlook in the foreign balance as well. Our current account deficit is steadily narrowing. We have a current account surplus when gold is excluded. The fall in oil prices is to our benefit, driving down both inflation and external deficit. We enjoy record highs in employment. Our unemployment rate lowered by 7.9 percent in March, 6.5 percent in women and 10.6 percent in women. These figures point to the lowest level in the last two decades.”
