Turkey’s steps to support the economy from the coronavirus fallout reached 562 billion Turkish liras ($71.6 billion) as of November, said the vice president on Monday.
Presenting the 2021 budget to parliament for debate, Fuat Oktay said the government expects employment to rise by approximately 1.6 million people and the unemployment rate to fall to 12.9%.
“OUR MAIN GOAL IS TO PERMANENTLY REDUCE INFLATION TO SINGLE DIGITS”
He added: “One of our main goals is to permanently reduce inflation to low and single digits, with the implementation of policies which have been developed as a result of wide-ranging consultations with various sectors of society and the policies envisaged in the New Economic Program.”
He added that the main aim of Turkey’s 2021 budget is to provide stable and predictable steps for the progress of Turkey’s economy in the global restructuring due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On efforts to develop vaccines for the virus, Oktay said Turkey’s government supported the domestic production of drugs to treat coronavirus and that local coronavirus vaccine studies reached the stage of human trials. “As of April 2021, our local vaccine will be ready,” he added.
On the massive Istanbul Airport, which was inaugurated in October 2018, he also underlined that due to the outbreak, “the number of international and domestic flights fell both in Turkey as worldwide in 2020, so a guaranteed payment [for Istanbul Airport] that is far below the average annual rental value will be put on the agenda.”