ANKARA
Creating macro-financial stability will be the government’s priority, said newly appointed Finance and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, stressing that bringing inflation down to single digits in the medium term is crucial.
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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on June 3 appointed former economy minister Şimşek as treasury and finance minister, succeeding Nureddin Nebati.
“For sustainable development, establishing budgetary and price discipline will be our top priority,” Şimsek said at a ceremony on June 4 in the capital Ankara, where he took over from Nebati.
Türkiye has no choice but to return to a rational basis. A rules-based, predictable Turkish economy will be key to achieving desired prosperity, Şimşek added.
“Our main goal is to strengthen social welfare. Transparency, consistency, predictability and compliance with international norms will be our basic principles in achieving this goal,” Şimşek said.
For Türkiye, it is important in the medium term to bring inflation down to single digits, increase predictability and push institutional transformation, which will help narrow the current account deficit, Şimsek said.
“We will prioritize macro-financial stability by strengthening institutional quality and capacity at a time when global challenges and geopolitical tensions are mounting,” he added.
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Şimşek also said that work on a medium-term program would begin “without further wasting time”.
“Our main goal will be to support the central bank in the fight against inflation,” said the minister.
Şimsek, who enjoys a high reputation in international financial markets, was finance minister and deputy prime minister of the Erdoğan governments between 2009 and 2018.
Nebati became finance minister in December 2021.
The reappointment of Şimşek, a former Merrill Lynch economist, to head the economy was greatly anticipated.
Analysts believe Simsek’s appointment will have a positive impact on investor sentiment and markets.
Talks about Şimşek’s possible return have already seen Borsa Istanbul’s benchmark index BIST 100 rise by 11.6 percent last week.
Meanwhile, Cevdet Yılmaz, who previously served as Development Minister, has been appointed Vice President.
Erdoğan appointed Alparslan Bayraktar as the new energy minister to succeed Fatih Dönmez and appointed Ömer Bolat as trade minister.
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Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy has retained his post in the new cabinet.
Mehmet Fahit Kacır will serve as Minister of Industry and Technology, while Abdulkadir Uraloğlu is the new Minister of Transport and Infrastructure.
Erdoğan also appointed İbrahim Yumaklı as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
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