02.01.2019 Ankara

The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, emphasizing that they wish to continue the fight against inflation in 2019, said, “This can be accomplished neither by the public, nor the private sector alone. Responsibility and duty belongs to all of us. TOBB and Chambers and Commodity Exchanges will continue to support the Ministry of Treasury and Finance's Anti-Inflation Program in 2019.

Hisarcıklıoğlu’s statement is as follows:

“The Anti-Inflation Program, implemented under the leadership of our Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mr. Berat Albayrak, made a significant contribution to controlling the accelerated inflation with the rise in exchange rates.

We, as the Turkish private sector, stood united with our government, we have adopted this program fully together with our Chambers and Commodity Exchanges in 81 provinces and 160 counties and provided the widest participation of our companies.

We hope that the fight against inflation will continue in 2019 as well. Fighting inflation means fighting against unemployment, high interest rates and increasing input costs.

However, neither the public nor the private sector can do this alone. Responsibility and duty belongs to us all. In 2019, TOBB and Chambers and Commodity Exchanges will continue to support the Treasury and Finance Ministry's Anti-Inflation Program.

Again in this context, last year, our members received requests for tax reductions to support sectors that are prominent in production and employment, and our government approached them positively and cut the VAT and SCT in 4 sectors.

We hereby express our thanks to our Treasury and Finance Minister, Mr. Berat Albayrak, for his decision to continue the expired VAT and SCT reductions at the end of the year for 3 months in the new year in support of both the domestic market and the fight against inflation.

Turkey's economy is rebalancing, leaving behind an arduous process and has taken important strides towards stability. We believe that the public and private sector will undergo a brisk growth through consultation and coordination.”