Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz assessed the agenda while answering questions live on CNN Turkey.
Yilmaz said Turkey has been on the FATF grey list for some time and that the issue will be evaluated at the FATF general meeting in Singapore tomorrow, where Finance and Treasury Minister Mehmet Şimşek is also in Singapore.
Yilmaz stressed that Turkey has made all the necessary preparations to be removed from the list, saying, “Last time, they said that ‘regulations on cryptocurrencies are incomplete,’ but that has now been completed. A technical group from the task force has visited Turkey. Turkey has conducted on-site inspections in recent months, with very positive results. “I am aware that a report has been issued, and there appear to be no technical issues,” he said.
Stating that countries will vote at the General Assembly, Yılmaz continued:
“There are no technical issues here. We believe that a positive decision will be made tomorrow. If not, we will interpret it politically. I want to state this clearly. It is not the end of the world if we do not leave, but even if we do leave, it is not favorable for us as a country to be on the grey list. If we can get out of this situation, it will give more confidence to the financial community and make the flow of funds to Turkey more certain. This is not an easy rating to get, but it is important for the perception of the country, and it could have a positive impact on the rating, which will have a positive impact on our country. Of course, it is not the end of the world if we do not do so. “
Yilmaz said Turkey’s removal from the grey list would benefit financial flows and contribute to the country’s development.
“Our number one priority is to keep inflation under control.”
Recalling that the three-year Medium-Term Plan (MTP) was announced last year, Yılmaz stressed that it was based on three periods regarding inflation, which are the “transitional period”, the “disinflationary period” and the “stable period”.
Prime Minister Yilmaz said he considered the transition period to be complete as of May, and said annual inflation had fallen since June and would also fall on a monthly basis.
Cevdet Yilmaz said he believes single-digit inflation will be achieved in 2026, adding, “Whatever the problem of the people, our main concern and priority are the same. If today the most basic problem of the people is inflation, this is also our main problem. “Inflation is not just an economic event, it is an event that also has a social dimension. It also affects income distribution. Taking all these aspects into account, our main priority is to control inflation, and we believe so. We are achieving this in stages by setting multi-faceted policies.”
When asked if there are studies on the Special Consumption Tax (SCT), Yılmaz said, “Actually, there are no studies on tax rates that I know of, because we don’t want inflationary tax increases. So, on the one hand,” he said. “When we do our assessment and impact analysis on taxes, we don’t support inflationary taxes. But, “on the other hand, there could be automatic renewals. They are mechanisms that work with certain formulas that are required by law. They are already done. Any work beyond that is not within my knowledge at this time,” he said.
OVP will be updated in September
“The central bank is independent, but will there be an interest rate cut soon?” Yilmaz said. He responded to the question:
“You know, our central bank has independence of means. Of course, we are in a democracy. The government decides the main goals and objectives. What is our goal? To bring down both inflation and interest rates. Our political goal is to get both to single digit figures in the medium term, and we will make every effort to achieve this. But in the process that we are going through, our central bank decides on policy and makes decisions within that framework that are in line with the expected inflation target. If these inflation trends break down, I believe that the central bank will make an assessment based on the data and in the most technically sound way.”
Stating that the medium-term plan would be updated in September, Yilmaz said, “We will update the medium-term plan only within the following framework. We are not going to change our main set of policies. But there have been developments in the world and in Turkey during the medium-term plan. In light of these developments, we will update the macroeconomic framework of the program,” he said.
