Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, mentioned that they are expecting the inflation to decrease to 24% this year. Minister Şimşek stated that to prevent the increase in rental prices, housing supply will be increased, “We will initiate a very serious social housing mobilization in a few years,” he said. Meanwhile, Minister Şimşek expressed that the citizens are justified in complaining about the high cost of living, “Our citizens should be reassured, we are pursuing a fundamental solution. Fighting inflation takes a while globally,” he said.

Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, made important statements during his participation in the Tv100 broadcast. Assessing the January inflation rate announced as 5.03%, Minister Şimşek said, “The 5% inflation in the first month of the year brought about some discussions. This inflation in January is the lowest inflation in January in the last 4 years.”

Minister Şimşek mentioned that they are expecting the inflation to decrease to 24% this year. Saying, “The decrease in inflation should not be perceived as a decrease in prices, it should be read as a slowdown in the rate of price increases” Minister Şimşek said, “The decrease in inflation will continue. The January inflation did not affect our structuring regarding the fight against inflation.” “WE ARE MAKING SERIOUS EFFORTS TO INCREASE HOUSING SUPPLY” “The high cost of living is currently Turkey’s most significant economic problem,” said Minister Şimşek, “Approximately 82.7% of our population lives in cities. I believe that the most crucial cost of living component here is rent. The homeownership rate is in the 56% range. In recent years, due to the rapid increase in housing prices and rents, the cost of living for our citizens refers to rent. Here, we are making serious efforts to increase housing supply. There is a construction work in the earthquake region. In addition to this, we provide substantial support from the budget in terms of social housing, urban transformation, and urban renewal. I believe that we will launch a very serious social housing mobilization in a few years. We are talking about houses supported by our state, easily accessible by our citizens. This is one of our most important headings in the fight against inflation,” he said. “PURSUING A FUNDAMENTAL SOLUTION” Minister Şimşek said, “Our citizens are justified in their complaint about the high cost of living. Inflation is like an unfair tax. Especially, it hits hard on fixed and low-income individuals. Inflation is the greatest evil. Inflation must be fought against. Our citizens should be reassured, we are pursuing a fundamental solution. Fighting globally takes time. After the pandemic, an increase in inflation was also observed in Europe and America. It took more than 3 years for them to reduce the inflation, which rose to 9-10%, to 2-3%. Our disinflation program started in the second half of 2023 and has not even completed 2 years yet. The decrease in inflation will continue,” he stated.

“WE WILL TERMINATE THE KKM PROGRAM FOR LEGAL ENTITIES” Asserting their determination to exit the protected deposit account (KKM), Şimşek said, “The KKM, which reached 3.4 trillion liras in August 2023, is now below 1 trillion liras. In dollar terms, it dropped from 144 billion dollars to below 30 billion dollars. Less than a third of this belongs to companies or legal entities. The rest belongs to real individuals. Based on the perspective provided by our Central Bank, we will most likely terminate this program for legal entities in the first half of this year.” Şimşek stated that the decline in KKM has continued for 76 weeks, mentioning that steps could be taken today if desired, but they prefer a smooth transition.

EVALUATIONS ON THE NEW TERM OF TRUMP Pointing out that Turkey does not have a free trade agreement with the United States, Şimşek stated that some of the new administration’s practices have caused uncertainty and anxiety, but there are very low, almost negligible, direct risks for Turkey. Şimşek mentioned that the increase in customs tariffs may have indirect effects, saying, “So far, the tariff increase announced against China is not very dramatic. It will not have huge results. Only the steps to be taken with political considerations will remain. The dialogue and relations between our President and the US President are good. I do not believe that special protectionist measures will develop for Turkey in trade. We have some sensitivities about Syria. The messages received so far have been relatively constructive. We are hopeful about that.” “THERE WILL BE NO TAXPAYER WE WILL NOT VISIT BY 2025” Using the expression “I want to declare that by 2025, there will be no taxpayer we will not visit,” in the fight against informal economy, Şimşek said, “We will pursue both major taxpayers and all other taxpayers who are informal. We conduct analyses and cross-checks. But this period is characterized by being consistently in the field. We performed approximately 2.2 million checks in 2024. This corresponds to about 1.2 million checks. We want to increase this in 2025.” Regarding the practice that enables rental contracts to be made through the e-Government system, Şimşek stated that over 11,600 rental contracts were transferred to e-Government, 38 thousand tenants filled out forms through the website of the Revenue Administration, stating that their goal is to reduce informal economy. Şimşek said, “If the landlord does not come and voluntarily submit the declaration, we will not only review the rent of 2024. We will go back 5 years and conduct an audit.”