The Minister of Treasury and Finance Nureddin Nebati unveiled a new anti-inflation program on February 12 at a ceremony honored by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan via videoconference. President Erdoğan announced that the VAT rate on basic food products was reduced from 8 percent to 1 percent as part of a program to streamline the VAT system.
Minister Nebati also revealed the details of the newly-introduced “Gold Savings Ecosystem" and three credit support packages, including the “Investment Support Package", “Export Support Package" and “Operating Expenses Support Package" in addition to the VAT reduction.
The Gold Savings Ecosystem includes depositing physical gold in Turkish banks through bank branches and licensed jewelers, which allows account holders to withdraw gold physically at the end of the maturity.
Investment loans and investment-related commercial loans to companies up to TRY 25 billion are now available under the Investment Support Package, with grace periods and maturities of 96 months and 30 months, respectively.
The Export Support Package introduces Credit Guarantee Fund-backed loans of up to USD 25 billion to SMEs and non-SME businesses with an interest rate of TLREF + 1 percent.
Finally, a USD 10 billion Operating Expenses Support Package has been established for SMEs and non-SME businesses, and features a 6-month grace period, a 24-month maturity, a cash loan of up to 10 percent, and an interest rate of TLREF + 1 percent.