Erdogan reiterates pledge to protect workers from economic crisis

The government has taken all necessary measures to protect working people from the sting of the global economic crisis and will continue to do so, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday. Speaking in Ankara to an Economic and Social Council meeting, including business and trade union figures as well as top economic officials, Erdogan said that the government has a comprehensive package of measures to counter the crisis, adding that the package had already managed to curb unemployment. Stressing that the government has closely watched the crisis since its early signs, he said the Central Bank injected nearly TL 10 billion in the economy in the second half of last year to blunt the crisis' impact, in addition to other government measures. Pointing to a bill recently sent to Parliament containing incentives and tax cuts meant to spur employment, revive domestic demand and stimulate investments, Erdogan underlined his determination to protect jobs. The bill would also extend and expand government support to companies having difficulty paying their workers. Under the bill, the government would pay workers employed by crisis-hit companies for six months, and could boost such payments by 50 percent compared a previous similar measure.