Everyone except those in the low-income brackets is benefiting from the new Turkish economic model based on lower borrowing costs, Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said on Sunday. The country’s top finance official made the remarks during a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in capital Ankara, Artı Gerçek news site reported. “Manufacturers and exporters are profiting from this system, although low-income families are not,” it cited Nebati as saying, as he defended the country’s economic model as a preference of “growth and high inflation” over lower borrowing costs and a production halt. Ankara earlier this year rolled out a new economic model based on lower interest, which seeks to boost production, employment and exports, in a bid to prop up the ailing Turkish lira. Inflation in the country surged to above 70 percent in May, the highest level in emerging markets and industrialised economies, after a currency crisis sent the lira tumbling by 44 percent against the dollar last year. Many economists along with the political opposition have blamed the financial instability on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who ordered the central bank to cut interest rates between September and December to stimulate economic growth and exports. “The wheels (of production) are turning,” Nebati said. “These growth figures are positive, because we chose growth and this is, in turn reflecting positively on to employment.” The official added that Ankara was working on regulations to help low-income families to help soften the blow of inflation, Artı Gerçek said. Nebati on Monday said that borrowing costs would remain steady, Cumhuriyet newspaper reported, as the lira fell to beyond 16.55 against the dollar, marking losses of more than 20 percent this year,
Ahval