Former Deputy PM Babacan: Interest Paid by State Rises by 144 Percent in 3 Years

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Preparing to found a new political party, Ali Babacan, the former Minister of Economy and a founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), has responded to President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's reference to him as "always in favor of interest."

"The interest paid by the state to the market has increased from 57 billion to 139 billion lira. The rate of increase is 144 percent", Babacan has said.

Speaking on a live TV program on January 5, President Erdoğan said, "When I said in 2008, 'We will be slightly touched by the crisis', the ones who are founding a new party now, but were with me back then did not believe that the crisis would touch us only slightly. They were always in favor of interest. When the interest rates fall, inflation also drops. I still believe that. And in 2020, interest rate will fall to single-digit figures."

Ali Babacan has made the following statement on Twitter:

'State pays interest to market from citizens' taxes'

"I have been watching the discussions on interest since last evening. I am ready to evaluate the past in all aspects. But, we need to focus on the present and future of Turkey.

"I would like to share a couple of figures about interest: The interest paid from the budget of the central administration increased from 57 billion in 2017 to 74 billion TRY in 2018. According to the program of the government, interest payments are 103 billion in 2019 and 139 billion TRY in 2020.

"I would like to draw your attention: The interest paid to the market by the state from the taxes of citizens has increased from 57 billion to 139 billion TRY in three years. The rate of increase is 144 percent. Moreover, Turkey has great problems such as high cost of living and unemployment.

"We need to talk about the problems of our country without hiding anything. As there are so many problems encountered by Turkey, we need to work for a solution, rather than developing meaningless arguments. We are working." (EKN/SD)