Turkey has abandoned economic orthodox policies to forge its own way, according to Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati. “We’ve set aside the orthodox policies. Now, it’s time for heterodox policies. We’ll continue to be eclectical while doing this,” Nureddin Nebati told the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (MUSIAD) at a meeting in the capital Ankara. The country will continue its own way in line with its realities and internal dynamics and the international context, Nebati explained. It will do this by carrying out fiscal and monetary policies together, taking a wide range of measures, and especially not making concessions to budget discipline. The country will continue to grow in an export-oriented manner, according to the Treasury and Finance Minister. “The current account deficit will fall below 2%, exports will continue to increase, thus domestic production will increase, the industry will develop, and employment will rise,” he noted. Touching on inflation, he said the government’s fight against high inflation will continue decisively.
The Coronavirus Scientific Advisory Board held an online meeting to discuss the course of the pandemic, quarantine rules, measures, and the vaccination program. The board decided to decrease the isolation period for positive cases to seven days against increasing Omicron cases. The quarantine will end for positive cases if the test results will be negative on the fifth day.
Turkey reported over 66,000 coronavirus cases in a single day for the first time over the past nine months with the adverse impact of the Omicron variant. The number of daily coronavirus cases reached 66,467 while the death toll saw 143 in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said in a Tweet that the rise in COVID-19 cases was not at an alarming level in terms of hospitalization. He warned citizens to be careful if they go to hospitals.
The first meeting of special representatives from Turkey and Armenia will be held on January 14, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moscow will host the special envoys’ meeting to discuss steps for normalizing bilateral relations. Russia last week announced that it supports talks between Turkey and Armenia to normalize ties, stressing that “the whole world will benefit from this reestablishment of neighborly relations.”
DAILY AGENDA
The Central Bank and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) will release weekly money and banking statistics (2.30 pm).
Meanwhile…
>> The share of foreign investors on Borsa Istanbul nearly declined by nine points to 40.45% in the last one year, according to Borsa Istanbul. The sales of foreign investors have exceeded USD 1.1bn as of the week ending on December 24 in the last one year.
>> Exports of the country’s automotive industry amounted to USD 29.3bn in 2021, according the Uludag Automotive Industry Exporters’ Association (OIB). The sector ranked first in the country’s overall exports with 13.3%.
>> The country’s crude steel production rose by 6.1% to 3.4 million tons in November, compared to the same month of 2020, according to the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association (TCUD). The export volume of steel products fell 0.4% to 1.5 million tons, while its earnings jumped 80.4% to USD 1.5bn in the same period.
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