The state-owned bank that supports the country's exporters, Türk Eximbank, provided financial support totaling TL 21.4 billion in the January-June period this year, a 4.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year, the country's trade minister announced yesterday.

In her address at the Türk Eximbank 2019 First 6 Months Activity Evaluation Meeting in the capital Ankara, Trade Minister Ruhsar Pekcan noted the slowdown in global trade and economy, drawing attention to the downward revision of economic indicators in the eurozone, the country's most important export market.

"In the first six months of 2019, Eximbank provided $21.4 billion in financial support, including cash loan support, insurance support and guarantees. 25.5 percent of our exports in the first six months of this year have been financed by Eximbank," Pekcan said.

In the first half of this year, Türk Eximbank secured funding of $2.5 billion from various debt collection operations, including syndicate loans and bond issuance in addition to financing from international institutions.

Pekcan said they aim for Eximbank to provide $48.4 billion in financing support, including cash loans and insurance support, to exporters by the end of 2019.

"We project that this figure will provide 27 percent of export financing," she said. The number of export firms increased to 11,535 in the first half of this year, a 12 year-on-year increase, according to the minister. Pekcan said they aim for the number of export firms to reach 12,500 as of the end of year, while also noting that they are interested in increasing the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) ratio from 72 percent to 75 percent.