Minister of Treasury and Finance Mehmet Şimşek addressed a conference held in Saudi Arabia focusing on emerging market economies. Minister Şimşek stated that the challenges related to the decrease in inflation and the restoration of fiscal discipline were largely domestically driven. He pointed out that while inflation still persists at high levels, it is on a downward trend, emphasizing that “Deflation will continue, which is crucial for further improvements.” Şimşek highlighted that they managed to reduce the current account deficit to around 0.7% of GDP last year, mentioning that it may slightly expand this year but will remain manageable. Mentioning the approximately $74 billion spent on earthquake reconstruction in the past two years, he explained that this amount is equivalent to more than 6% of GDP. He stated that in recent years, the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP was relatively high by Turkish standards at around 5%. This year, they aim to reduce it to around 3%. Minister Şimşek also noted that both a strong dollar and high long-term US Treasury yields are unfavorable for emerging markets.