Minister of Trade Omer Borat answered questions on the topic during a special broadcast on TRT News. The main points of Omer Borat’s statement are as follows:
The world situation is not very favorable for exports. Exports increased slightly last year, but are doing well this year. World trade will contract by 1.2% in 2023. Last year we broke the historic record of the Republic with $255.4 billion. We ended the year with a foreign trade deficit of $106 billion. In May we achieved our highest export figures. The figures for June are slightly delayed due to the holidays, but the data for July show that exports increased by 10%.
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Inflation is expected to trend downwards
Our country’s exports in the first six months of the year increased by 2% to $125.4 billion. Imports fell by 8.5%. The goal of the medium-term plan by the end of the year was $267 billion in exports. We hope that the data from the top six and our forecasts will allow us to keep the foreign trade deficit below $106 billion. We can give you good news that we have reduced the foreign trade deficit by $35 billion and the current account deficit by $32 billion. Almost all indicators of the programs implemented in the economy show a positive increase. Only the inflation rate peaked in May, but began to fall in June. We expect that inflation will have a serious downward trend in the coming months. The problem of the cost of living for the people will decrease.
The foreign trade deficit declined significantly in July and is on track to do the same in August. That’s good news for the Turkish economy. Increased exports of goods and services mean more jobs and foreign currency for our country.
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Schengen visa issues in trade
Schengen visas are valid for more than 30 years. During the pandemic, people could not travel. Then, when the quarantine measures ended, tourism quickly got back on track. Foreign trade accelerated very much. The educational demands of students have increased significantly. But there was no significant increase in visa correspondence at the embassies of EU countries. The European Commission states that “the most number of visas were issued to Turkey.” We always wanted this from them. Our country is also one of the candidate countries. Visa facilitation was provided for all candidate countries. This convenience should also be provided to citizens of the Republic of Turkey. Our request from them was this: Long-term and multiple entry will reduce the demand for accumulated visas. It is necessary to speed up visa procedures, especially for businessmen, transporters, students and academics. We conducted the necessary negotiations in Brussels on visa issuance. We are doing trade and we are in the customs union. This is very important for businessmen and everyone else. Unjust acts are being done against Turkey.
Import/Export Balance
In our country, the main responsibility for fighting inflation lies with the Ministry of Finance. He acts as the conductor of the orchestra of this struggle with the necessary powers. Other ministries also contribute to this struggle. The Ministry of Commerce contributes to this struggle by carrying out the necessary inspections and punishments. As a ministry, we maintain close ties with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. In case of supply shortages, we ensure domestic supply by introducing export quotas on current production. If production is high, export routes are opened. We also open import routes at the request of the Ministry of Agriculture. We establish the necessary balance in order not to sacrifice our people.
Olive and sunflower production fell. We tried to fill the gap of four to five months by opening up the import of sunflower seeds and crude oil. Olive oil exports last year did very well. We saw that domestic prices were rising, so we banned bulk and barrels. We have also achieved such a balance with tomatoes. We also limited the required quota of chicken meat to 10,000 pieces per month. We made sure to lower the price of chicken meat. Stockpiling was done on onions and potatoes, which are the main products on our table, to prevent speculation. That means that we have given up $1.5 billion in export revenues as a ministry. The important thing is to ensure that the products are available for the public to consume in abundance and at an affordable price.
Has the car market bubble burst?
Anti-inflation program became the main goal of the government. The first goal is to rehabilitate the earthquake zone, and the second goal is to bring single-digit inflation to our country. It was established with the aim of increasing the purchasing power of the people. After taking office last year, about 600,000 cars were stocked, and the second-hand prices rose excessively. Dealers asking for extra money… We put an end to this mess with regulations. We introduced the rule that the second-hand price should not exceed the second-hand price. We included motorcycles in this scope. We ensured that the rule of no more than three sales by private individuals was implemented. This application also includes 6 months and 6,000 km.
The same thing happened in the real estate market. Those who engaged in price gouging and manipulative trading were identified and necessary penalties were imposed. Their certificates were revoked. Our advertising committee also imposed necessary penalties. We have tightened the control of shelf price differentials.
Fighting exorbitant prices
From 2004 to 2020, except for one or two years, our country experienced single-digit inflation. That is why the economy developed and grew. National income increased 4.5 times. National income per capita increased from $3,300 to $13,110. The purchasing power of the people increased during the AK Party era. The epidemic began in 2020. The 27-fold increase in the price of masks was the most concrete example of hoarding. Other materials followed. This did not happen only in Turkey. Every family has at least one acquaintance abroad. You can ask about prices there. You will see at least a 2-3 fold increase. The people were not given a proper wage increase. In Turkey, support was provided by giving wage increases every six months and welfare contributions that exceeded inflation. The decline in the purchasing power of the people was prevented.
The incident didn’t end with the epidemic. The Russo-Ukrainian war broke out, the price of natural gas increased fourfold, electricity prices went up, and food prices soared. Why? Both were large agricultural countries. These were negative developments.
Last year we experienced the biggest earthquake disaster in our history, we can’t let 13-14 percent of Turkiye’s land lie idle, we need to get it up and running.
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