Türkiye is expected to receive stronger foreign capital and resource inflows next year as its economy becomes increasingly more stable, Erdal Bahçıvan, chairperson of the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO), told Anadolu Agency (AA) in a recent interview.
Bahçıvan said the global economy is entering disinflation with inflation going down, especially in the EU.
"The political uncertainties in France and Germany will reveal what will happen to Europe. While the second Trump era’s more protectionist and closed economy becomes a strong discourse, it may bring along a number of other question marks that we cannot fully predict," he said.
He highlighted that Türkiye’s place in the U.S. market may be subject to change due to China, and Türkiye may find itself at a competitive disadvantage because of China’s lowering prices in rival markets.
"There are opportunities still, but we should not lose sight that there are threats, too, and things can change very quickly," he noted.
Bahçıvan noted that the most negative aspect of last year, when evaluated in terms of the medium-term program, was inflation, which he said continues its resilience while he highlighted improvements in other domains such as a drop in the current account gap.
"The current account deficit is much better than expected and the unemployment rate has been stable, while the budget deficit is almost in line with the target," he said.
"We should not focus too much on growth when we’re combating inflation, and although we have achieved much in our fight against inflation, there is still a long way to go, which is why the most important agenda of 2025 should be finding the solution to it,” he added.
Inflation in Türkiye dropped in recent months to touch 47.09% in November, compared to a peak of 75.5% in May.
Bahçıvan highlighted that some sacrifices need to be made in the fight against inflation, noting that the industry and production sectors are the ones making the greatest efforts to achieve the inflation target.
He noted the expectations that a slight increase in Türk Eximbank-issued credits, Turkish lira rediscount credits become cheaper and foreign currency rediscount credits open up, while a softening in the upper limits of Turkish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and slightly lower cost in certain employment-oriented sectors will be on the agenda.
Bahçıvan said he believed the new economic administration will continue its determination and implement policies needed to keep fighting inflation, as the priority for the ISO is also for inflation to be reduced permanently.
He conveyed that as the industrialists, they are "determined to show sacrifice and patience to ensure financial stability and eliminate inflation."
At the same time, he said Türkiye boasts high potential and new investments can benefit many areas of the country so long as confidence in its financial stability and credibility in international communities is established.
He added that credit default swap (CDS) figures are steadily going down, which brings positive added value to the perspective of foreign investors.
Bahçıvan noted that the biggest incentive for investors is to create an understanding that a stable economic policy will be implemented and there needs to be a long-term permanent confidence for investors, as well as solutions to the structural issues.
"I think there will be a stronger foreign resource inflow to Türkiye in 2025 than this year. 2025 will present a more positive outlook than 2024 in terms of both long-term investment and cash and resource flow to Türkiye," he said.
