Treasury and Finance Minister Şimşek: Turkey’s public debt-to-GDP ratio is 29.5 percent

Mehmet Şimşek, the Minister of Treasury and Finance, stated that Turkey had a much better story compared to most developing countries, noting that the ratio of Turkey’s public debt stock to national income was less than half the average of emerging markets, standing at 29.5%.

Speaking at the Annual Meetings of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in Riyadh, during the “Governors’ Dialogue – Turkey” session, Şimşek emphasized that they had established a reliable fiscal framework to support the fight against inflation and that despite the effects of the earthquake, public finances were improving.

Şimşek highlighted that fiscal discipline was also one of the key components of Turkey’s Medium-Term Program. He further emphasized that Turkey had a comprehensive structural reform agenda aimed at increasing efficiency, enhancing competitiveness, and consequently, boosting potential growth.

He continued his speech by stating, “Monetary and fiscal policies can help you achieve the desired results, but making them sustainable requires structural adjustment. Therefore, our structural reform program aims to increase efficiency, improve competitiveness, and thus increase potential growth.

As you can see, the program is quite robust, internally consistent, and reliable. Since we announced the program, there has been strong investor interest. The reactions from both domestic and international sources have been quite strong. This is a 2-year program, so we need time to see the full results. The initial indicators suggest that the program is working and that Turkey has what it takes to put itself back on a sustainable path of high growth.”