Policies targeting transformation in industry to accelerate: Şimşek

ANKARA

Policies that are attentive to employment and aimed at transformation in industry will accelerate this year, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has stated.

Commenting on the latest industrial production data, Şimşek noted that in November, industrial production, adjusted for calendar effects, increased by 2.4 percent year-on-year, and noted that annual growth in the January–November period was 3.5 percent.

The growth observed on a monthly basis in 19 out of 24 sub-sectors of the manufacturing industry shows that the improvement is spreading across the board, he added.

The strong performance in capital goods and high-technology groups enhances high-value-added production and increases our medium- to long-term growth potential.

“In 2026, which we have declared as the Year of Reform, we will accelerate our policies that are based on the efficient use of resources, attentive to employment, and focused on transformation in industry through productivity, competitiveness, and sustainability," Şimşek said.

Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz also welcomed the industrial production data.

“The transformation in industry, together with developments in the energy sector, is strengthening the permanent improvement of the current account deficit, which has declined to quite low levels," Yılmaz said.

‘Inflation will continue to decline’

Meanwhile, Şimşek voiced optimism for the inflation outlook going forward in 2026.

Inflation will continue to decline; the main goal is to bring it below 20 percent in 2026, Şimşek said on Jan. 9.

Speaking at the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association's (MÜSİAD) event in Istanbul, Simsek stressed, “Last year was truly a difficult year.”

"But despite all the difficulties, we continued to make progress,” he added.

Şimşek stated that the country has alleviated concerns about reserves and ensured broad-based reserve adequacy, the five-year credit default swap (CDS) has declined and external financing costs have fallen.

He explained that foreign financing costs declined and the government has successfully managed the exit from the FX-protected deposits (KKM) scheme.

“Thanks to the decrease in KKM and the increase in net reserves excluding swaps, we achieved a $266 billion improvement in our country's balance sheet during the program period," he said.

The decline is not one-dimensional; there is a real decline in inflation across all sub-components, he added.

"Annual service inflation fell from 91 percent to 66 percent in 2024 and to 44 percent in 2025. Food inflation was 72 percent in 2023, fell to 44 percent in 2024 and declined to around 28 percent in 2025. Core goods inflation similarly fell to 27 percent and even below 18 percent in 2025," Şimşek said.