Turkey's Simsek says economy will ride out Trump tariffs without lasting scars
Mehmet Simsek stressed that his government’s economic program has made the economy more resilient against internal and external shocks, highlighting that inflation has fallen and continues to drop.
Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Monday that he does not expect the recent market volatility — triggered by the United States imposing universal tariffs — to have a lasting impact on the Turkish economy.
Speaking at an agricultural economics workshop in the Turkish capital, Ankara, Simsek said that since Trump imposed the tariffs, the rise in Turkey’s credit default swap was lower than that of “many other countries.” In other words, the cost of insuring Turkey’s sovereign debt rose less than it did for many other developing countries, suggesting the Turkish economy was less affected by the tariffs.
“The movement in CDS indicates that we have performed significantly better compared to our peer countries. The recent turbulence in the economy is not permanent,” Simsek added.
He cited Turkey’s relatively low reliance on exports compared to other developing countries, meaning that Ankara would likely be less exposed to US tariffs than other nations. While acknowledging that disruption in foreign trade will impact the Turkish economy, he argued that the effects would be milder than those experienced by others.
