05.05.2025 15:01
The Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, stated that they will fight against unregistered production and sales, saying, "We will place tax officials at the entrances and exits of all organized industrial zones and all wholesale markets. We will assign permanent tax officials at the entrances and exits of all metropolitan cities."
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The Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, made evaluations on many issues that concern citizens closely, from inflation to rent increases, during a live broadcast on TGRT News today.
"ON THE ENTRANCES AND EXITS OF METROPOLITAN CITIES..."
Emphasizing that they will fight against unregistered production and sales, Minister Şimşek stated, "There is no sector we have not started an investigation on. We started with the very large ones first. Those who engage in unregistered production and sales... We do not want to conduct inspections and impose fines, but we have also discussed this with our colleagues. Teams will be strengthened. We will place tax officials at the entrances and exits of all organized industrial zones and all markets. We will assign permanent tax officials to the entrances and exits of all metropolitan cities and main arteries," he said.
"IF THE PROGRAM WERE NOT SUCCESSFUL, WE COULD NOT HAVE OVERCOME 2 MAJOR SHOCKS"
Responding to claims that the economic program is unsuccessful, Minister Şimşek said, "If it were not successful as some claim, could Turkey have overcome two major shocks with very limited impact? Since we could not reduce vulnerabilities to external shocks, since we did not strengthen macro-financial stability, since our program was not working - there have been groups saying this in unison for a long time - could we have overcome these two major shocks? If we can overcome them, if we can show resilience, then those friends should sincerely reconsider their statements over the last two years." he said.
"THIS DETERMINATION WILL YIELD RESULTS"
Minister Şimşek stated, "They first said there was no program. Then they said this program would not receive funding. When funding came, they said this money was just hot money. Then they realized that many problems had been significantly solved thanks to the program. We proved this. You will experience two major shocks in succession, and Turkey will be able to look ahead very comfortably. Of course, there will be effects from these developments, but in general, we still see that the program is being implemented decisively, and this determination will yield results," he expressed.
INFLATION FIGURES
Addressing inflation figures, Minister Şimşek said, "Especially rent and education items are pushing this area upwards. This year, service inflation is below 90%. We expect normalization after July. We predict that the annual inflation will fall below 30% by the end of the year. The monetary policy is tight, and the income policy is providing supply-side support. We expect a significant increase in housing supply by the end of this year compared to 2023. We have activated important resources for earthquake housing, on-site transformation, and urban transformation. We are also adhering to the Central Bank's original targets for administered prices. We have set prices below the target in many areas. We expect inflation to decrease in these items as well. Despite the recent shocks experienced both domestically and abroad, we have prioritized the inflation program. Because our most important issue is to combat the cost of living. We are determined on this matter. The first year was a transition period, and this year we started to see results. We expect stronger results next year," he stated.
WHEN WILL CITIZENS FEEL THIS?
Responding to the question of when citizens will feel the declining inflation, Minister Şimşek said, "Constructive criticism is very valuable to us. However, there is a serious polarization in society, and evaluations are sometimes made from a political perspective. In this context, there is not much to say. The goal of the program was to reduce inflation, and this has started to happen. There are no miracles in real life. A program that produces consistent and decisive results needs to be implemented. Are results coming? Yes, inflation is on a downward trend. Our second goal was to bring the current account deficit onto a sustainable path, and we have achieved that. There have also been positive developments regarding access to external resources. We had a target to exit from the Currency Protected Deposit, and there is a decrease in that stock. There is progress in all these areas, and results are being achieved. Of course, are we progressing at the desired speed? That is debatable. We take constructive criticisms into account and consider them as guiding. However, we have nothing to say to those who spread pessimism," he said.
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