Agencies
The Turkish government on Wednesday said it was carrying out works that would reduce financing costs for exporters and would make related announcements next month as part of a broader strategy to enhance trade.
The government aims to implement 77 concrete steps in 2025, increasing the export support budget to approximately TL 33 billion ($930 million), with TL 25.5 billion allocated to goods shipments and TL 7.3 billion to services exports.
A total of 27,700 exporters are set to benefit from these initiatives, Trade Minister Ömer Bolat told an event in Istanbul to announce the “2025 Export Action Plan.”
“Next month, we will deliver good news about a new reduction in the financing costs for our exporters,” Bolat said, part of an adjustment he said was being worked on together with the central bank and the Treasury and Finance Ministry.
Exports have been among the priority areas that the government is seeking to rely on as it seeks to rebalance the economy’s growth composition.
Outbound shipments rose by 2.5% year-over-year to a record $262 billion in 2024, according to official data. That marked a fourth straight annual peak that was up from $255.8 billion in 2023.
Imports dropped by 4.9% compared to a year ago to $344.1 billion in 2024. The trade deficit narrowed by 22.7% year-over-year to $82.2 billion from $106.3 billion in 2023.
The record came despite challenges such as an uncertain global outlook and slowing demand in some of Türkiye’s key export markets like the European Union.
Bolat expressed optimism for 2025, acknowledging that while 2024 was particularly challenging, economic growth is expected to accelerate from the spring of this year.
Also addressing the event, Mustafa Gültepe, head of the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), also reflected on what he said was a challenging year but expressed belief that the worst has been left behind.
