Turkey will continue with its tight economic policy aimed at bringing down inflation and does not plan to abandon the current program, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has said, Reuters reported.
“There is no plan to pause our program,” Yılmaz said at a briefing with reporters in İstanbul on Thursday. “All programs are dynamic, and adjustments can always be made.”
He said any fine-tuning would focus on supporting production, investment and exports, while keeping domestic consumption under control.
Turkey has maintained strict monetary and fiscal policy for more than two years as it tries to curb inflation, a strategy that has pushed borrowing costs higher for businesses and households.
Inflation has declined gradually over the past year but remains high, standing at about 31 percent on an annual basis.
Yılmaz said the government expects inflation to improve in the first quarter, which he said should help bring market expectations for year-end inflation closer to 23 percent.
Official forecasts see inflation falling to as low as 16 percent by the end of the year, within a target range of 13 percent to 19 percent, before declining further in the coming years. The central bank has projected inflation within the same range by the end of 2026.
He said inflation has already fallen by about 45 percentage points, despite pressure from food prices caused by drought and agricultural frost. The agriculture sector is expected to support growth this year and help ease price pressures, Yılmaz added.
Göreve geldiğimiz andan itibaren iş dünyamızın kıymetli temsilcileriyle her fırsatta istişare etmeyi sürdürüyoruz.
Bugün de İstanbul Ticaret Odası (İTO) Ocak Ayı Olağan Meclis Toplantısı'nda iş dünyamızın temsilcileriyle bir araya gelerek ekonomi politikalarımıza ilişkin… pic.twitter.com/6Z53BT2nVz
— Cevdet Yılmaz (@_cevdetyilmaz) January 8, 2026
The vice president said the government is seeking to avoid a sharp drop in inflation that could damage economic growth, employment and social stability.
Turkey’s current economic program was introduced following the 2023 elections after years of unorthodox policies that relied on cheap credit to spur growth but led to soaring inflation and a weakened lira.
The new approach aims to lower inflation expectations while boosting production and exports to address long-standing current account deficits.
The central bank raised interest rates to 50 percent in 2024 before easing the relevant policy last year, bringing the benchmark rate down to 38 percent.
Asked whether lower rates could prompt investors to move away from the lira, Yılmaz said real interest rates were the key factor and argued that rate cuts in line with falling inflation would not trigger such a shift.