28.12.2025 14:05
The Minister of Trade, Ömer Bolat, stated that they will not give any leniency to companies trying to raise prices under the pretext of the minimum wage. Minister Bolat said, "We are conducting intensive inspections in the field; we have been carrying out inspections throughout the year. Inspections by the Ministry of Trade continue in all 81 provinces against exorbitant price attempts."
Trade Minister Ömer Bolat evaluated the Ministry's activities. Pointing out that despite the stagnation in the global economy, there has been growth in many areas in Turkey, from the manufacturing industry to agriculture and services, Bolat stated that the country's economy has shown uninterrupted growth for the last 5 years.
Bolat expressed that the exports, which experienced a decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, have continued to increase since 2021. Reporting that the export target of 390 billion dollars set by President Erdoğan for this year has been exceeded, reaching 393 billion dollars by the end of November, Bolat said, "If this continues, we may also see 395 billion dollars. This year, we broke monthly export records on 4 days in 11 months, and we achieved monthly increases on 9 days in 11 months. There was a slight decline in exports over two months due to calendar effects. By increasing exports every month, we added 8.8 billion dollars in goods and approximately 5.5 billion dollars in services exports in 11 months. In other words, we added 14.3 billion dollars." he said.
Bolat conveyed that the rise in imports during this period was due to the increase in gold and passenger car imports. Stating that Turkey is a strong country in industry, agriculture, and services, Bolat said, "This year, the export-to-import coverage ratio will be completed at around 75 percent. Our net surplus in services exports was 61.5 billion dollars last year, and we estimate that it could be 63 billion dollars or more this year. This will bring our current account deficit down to reasonable levels. The surplus in the services sector has a significant impact on reducing the foreign trade deficit. Turkey ranks as the 5th country in the world with a surplus in services trade." he stated.
"WE PUT AN END TO MANIPULATIVE OPERATIONS"
Bolat pointed out that the disruption in the global supply-demand balance and the resulting demand explosion after the COVID-19 pandemic have led to serious inflationary pressures worldwide, explaining that during this period, serious investment and operating loans were provided at low interest rates to stimulate the market and increase production in Turkey. Reporting that the Ministry issued sectoral regulations and increased inspections during this process, Bolat stated that they have particularly put an end to manipulative operations in the automotive and real estate markets.
Bolat expressed that they have implemented numerous measures such as price tag, exorbitant price, and stockpiling regulations, as well as measures against misleading advertisements. In this context, Bolat noted that they imposed fines of over 2.5 billion lira on businesses that engaged in opportunism or unfair pricing in 11 months, stating, "The Competition Authority also worked intensively, imposing a total of 12.5 billion lira in penalties on 211 firms in the files it investigated within 11 months. Consumer arbitration boards received 818,000 applications this year and resolved 775,000 of them. The decision-making process has been reduced to 3 months, whereas it could previously extend up to 6 months. Thus, disputes worth 11 billion lira were resolved, which was very significant." he evaluated.
Bolat pointed out that opportunists may emerge after the announcement of the new minimum wage, but emphasized that this wage will be valid until 2026, continuing his remarks as follows: "Therefore, we will not give a break to firms trying to use the minimum wage as an excuse to raise prices or increase costs, or to those opportunists trying to raise prices as much as the minimum wage increase. We are conducting intensive inspections in the field; we have been inspecting throughout the year. Inspections by the Ministry of Trade continue in all 81 provinces against exorbitant price attempts. Our government is on duty 24/7 to protect the purchasing power of our consumers in the field, for their welfare and peace."
"NEXT YEAR, WE WILL SEE DECREASES IN FINANCING COSTS"
Bolat reported that they spent 90 billion dollars in the earthquake region over 2.5 years within the framework of budgetary possibilities, explaining that they equipped the earthquake region with livable, earthquake-resistant workplaces and residences.
Indicating that this is a world record, Bolat made the following assessment: "A Japanese official comes after the earthquake and tells a local authority there, 'When we faced the Kobe earthquake, it was just one province, and the loss of life was less. We could only clear the debris in 4.5 years. You will only be able to clear the debris of this earthquake that hit 13 provinces in 5 years.' As a government, we carried out search and rescue, debris removal, identifying new reserve areas, laying foundations, and delivering homes and workplaces to rightful owners in 2.5 years, in line with the directives of our President."
Bolat conveyed that they provided 154 billion lira worth of 50% interest-subsidized support to tradesmen through Halk Bank in the 11 months of this year, noting that the opportunities here were 104 billion lira last year. Stating that they reduced the credit interest cost from 29% to 25% compared to last year, Bolat reminded that they extended the repayment period for tradesmen's loans from 3 years to 4 years and increased the loan installments from 3 months to 6 months. Bolat expressed that the financing cost will fall below 25% in 2026.
"CITIZENS' PURCHASING POWER WILL INCREASE"
Bolat conveyed that the simple tax application for tradesmen has been excessively abused, continuing his remarks as follows: "In 1996, simple taxation was applied in 14 metropolitan cities. This year, with the regulation introduced by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, this application became valid in 30 provinces, but not for all tradesmen, only in 6 areas. In this regard, the trade chambers will assist our tradesmen in transitioning to real declarations in terms of accounting. In this sense, simple taxation will continue in districts with a population of less than 30,000. There are limits in simple taxation, and tradesmen who do not exceed that limit will continue with simple taxation and will not transition to real taxation."