STORY: Türkiye revises medium-term inflation, growth forecasts 
DATELINE: Sept. 7, 2023
LENGTH: 0:01:08
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the press conference (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
2. various of the speech of Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz at the press conference (courtesy of Justice and Development Party)
3. various of the press conference (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
4. SOUNDBITE (Turkish): RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President (courtesy of ihlas news agency)

STORYLINE:

The Turkish government on Wednesday lowered its economic growth forecasts while raising its expected inflation rate for the upcoming three years in its annual Medium-Term Program.
   
The country's economy is projected to grow 4 percent in 2024, 4.5 percent in 2025, and 5 percent in 2026, said Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz at a press conference during which he unveiled the program.
   
The previous program announced in 2022 had set growth targets of 5 percent in 2023 and 5.5 percent in both 2024 and 2025.
   
"The reason why the growth forecasts are revised down to 5 percent or below was the earthquake impacts," said Yilmaz, referring to the massive Feb. 6 tremors that devastated southern Türkiye.
   
Yilmaz added the government expects Türkiye's inflation to hit 65 percent by the end of 2023 and to reach 33 percent, 15.2 percent, and 8.5 percent for the next three years, respectively, higher than the 2022 predictions, which were 24.9 percent, 13.8 percent and 9.9 percent from 2023 to 2025 respectively.
   
At the press conference, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government will implement a tight monetary policy to lower inflation to single digits, and will not compromise on economic growth as policies are adjusted.
  
SOUNDBITE (Turkish): RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, Turkish President
"We will not compromise with economic growth. We will ensure healthy growth by paving the way for high value-added investments and facilitating their financing."

Türkiye foresees joining the high-income countries with its economic size exceeding 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars and per capita income going up to 14,855 dollars by the end of 2026, the president added.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)