New Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak renewed his assertion that Turkey will continue steadily in its upward economic growth, saying that his country’s economy is built on strong foundations.
Albayrak, who is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, said the government’s recent policies were aimed at maintaining prudent fiscal policies, achieving healthy credit growth, carrying out structural reforms and strengthening Turkey’s monetary policy framework.
Concerns mounted over the independence of Turkey’s central bank after Erdogan appointed his son-in-law as minister. Albayrak previously served was a minister of energy and natural resources.
There were fears that the president, who called himself the “enemy of interest rates,” will seek to wield greater influence over monetary policy and exert pressure to reduce interest rates, which have reached 17.75.
"The protectionist trade policies are likely to cause new troubles, both in the fields of production and employment," Albayrak said of the world economy from Argentina where he was attending a G20 meeting.
He held bilateral discussions during his trip with his counterparts from the United States, European Union, China, Germany, France, Brazil, South Korea, Indonesia and other countries.
Investors are closely watching Albayrak decisions to determine whether he will succeed in calming financial markets and adopt a stricter monetary policy or whether he will take Erdogan’s stance and blame inflation on high interest rates.
