The impact on Türkiye's economy of the conflict in the Middle East may be temporary and reversible if the recent ceasefire holds, and authorities are ready with a different set of tools if the shock persists, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Thursday.
In an interview on broadcaster Haberturk, Simsek said authorities are prepared with a new response beyond steps already taken if the newly agreed US-Iran ceasefire does not hold.
According to Reuters, he did not detail the potential response but said authorities' "main scenario" was for a month-long war, adding that a three-month conflict would be bad.
This week's ceasefire has mostly halted the more than five-week war that gripped the Middle East and sent energy prices soaring, although Israel bombed more targets in Lebanon on Thursday, potentially jeopardizing the deal.
Simsek said the central bank's reserves had fallen by $48.7 billion since the war began and that some $162 billion remained. They will rebound to pre-crisis levels once the war ends, he said.
If the ceasefire does not hold, he said, the risks included global recession and stagflation, and in any case it would likely take months for disrupted global supply chains to return to pre-war levels.
