By Nevzat Devranoglu
ANKARA (Reuters) – Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Thursday that President Tayyip Erdogan’s support for Turkey’s economic programme was “full and tangible”, a day after the country raised its forecasts for inflation in its medium-term plan.
Simsek also told a media briefing that he planned investor meetings in Germany, key financial hubs New York and London, and locations in Asia and the Middle East.
Turkey also cut its forecasts for economic growth in the medium-term programme on Wendesday, when Erdogan appeared to endorse the big interest rate hikes central to a move to more orthodox policies.
At Thursday’s briefing by Simsek and other top Turkish officials, Central Bank Governor Hafize Gaye Erkan said the bank would continue monetary tightening until a significant improvement in inflation.
She said that the appetite for Turkish assets was high and she expected strong investor interest in bonds.
Since the policy U-turn began in June, analysts have applauded what they said was a more realistic effort to address years of soaring inflation, but cautioned that the short-term economic pain could test Erdogan’s patience.
At Thursday’s briefing, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Erdogan’s support for the economic programme was its biggest benefit. He added that the composition of growth in Turkey’s gross domestic product growth was disinflationary.
(Reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu, Writing by Ece Toksabay and Daren Butler; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
