Govt to announce new incentives for real sector

Speaking at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Board (EKK) yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nazim Ekren said that the government has introduced incentives to boost productivity to help the real sector weather the global economic crisis, and stressed the importance of preserving Turkey's macroeconomic, fiscal and political stability for this. Saying the government has doubled its loans to exporters and the Central Bank infused $2.5 billion of additional liquidity into the banking system, Ekren said the government would continue to take all necessary measures in the short, medium and long term against the crisis in close cooperation with the real sector. Ekren also said that the problems caused by falling world demand due to the crisis had been long predicted and that necessary measures had been taken to deal with this. The government will soon announce a new incentive package for sectors such as tourism, construction, agriculture and industry, he added. Also speaking at the meeting, Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) head Rifat Hisarciklioglu said that as the economy is going through an extraordinary time, extraordinary measures are needed. Stressing that Turkey won't be unaffected by the crisis, Hisarciklioglu said the domestic market should be revived and the government should act to help the real sector. "We're ready to take risks if necessary to help the government's efforts to ease the impact of the crisis on Turkey," he said.