State Minister and Vice Prime Minister Nazım Ekren has said that the government is working on a relief package to deal with the economic crisis, and that these measures may be implemented before 29 March, the date of the local elections.

Domestic demand to be increased

Speaking live on NTV, Ekren pointed out that because the crisis had affected foreign demand, domestic demand would have to be increased. The plan was to arrange tax reductions in such a way as to not upset financial discipline.

The package would also include investment in infrastructure and a reduction of interest rates, so Ekren. In addition, there would be changes made to the banking sector to allow employers to obtain credit more easily.

Industries are accumulating stock

The minister spoke of the accumulating stock in the industrial sector, saying that the government would “use its initiative” to get rid of the stock.

The fact, so Ekren, that the car market has shrunk by 40 percent in the last four months, showed that such decisions were necessary.

The minister further announced that the budget for 2009 would have a greater deficit than previous budgets, but that this was unavoidable: “In such a situation, a budget cannot be decreased, it has to be enlarged.” (TK/AG)