Türkiye's top financial leaders and authorities gathered on Thursday at a major summit to discuss the strategies and prospects of the sector, focusing on topics varying from digitalization and sustainability to participation banking.
The fifth edition of "Future of Finance Summit," organized by Turkuvaz Media Group, Daily Sabah’s parent company, brought together leading financial institutions, public and private banking executives, and regulatory authorities.
The event welcomed key policymakers, including Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) President Şahap Kavcıoğlu, Presidential Investment and Finance Office head Ahmet Burak Dağlıoğlu, Capital Markets Board (SPK) President Ibrahim Ömer Gönül, Borsa Istanbul CEO Korkmaz Ergun, as well as banking executives.
Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek was also set to attend a special panel on "money talks" later during the day.
Speaking at the opening of the event, Kavcıoğlu highlighted that a strong financial structure is "the foundation of sustainable growth."
He stated that recent years have been shaped by global simultaneous challenges. “Our banking sector has been the backbone of this process. With strong capital structures, low non-performing loan ratios and high liquidity, it continues supporting financial stability,” he noted.
Kavcıoğlu also recalled that they released the Strategic Plan for 2025-2028, which is based on three pillars: strengthening trust and stability in financial markets; ensuring an inclusive, competitive and efficient development track; and enhancing institutional capacity for more effective regulation and supervision.
Referring to the steps they have taken in this direction, he noted that they are addressing the digital finance, sustainable finance and participation finance ecosystems together, and that they have bolstered transparency and analytical capacity in retail banking.
Turning to the participation sector, he suggested that participation financial institutions are a complementary and strategic element of their systems, and that they have taken significant steps recently to develop institutional capacity, increase product diversity and expand the ecosystem.
"With the work we have done, we estimate that participation finance will reach its target of 15% sector share, and with the maturation and integration of the ecosystem, it will ultimately reach its target of 25%," he added.
Dağlıoğlu, for his part, emphasized that digitalization is always one of the most important themes when discussing the future. He noted that the finance sector, starting from banking, is among the most advanced sectors in terms of digitalization in the country.
Türkiye's digitalization in the financial sector has become a success story that leaves many countries behind, according to Dağlıoğlu. “Achieving this not only in banking but also extending it to insurance and even the traditionally structured capital markets is a great success. We are witnessing a period in which not only large institutional players but also financial technology companies are rapidly shaping and leading the pace of digitalization,” he maintained.
Regarding the near future, he pointed to artificial intelligence.
“Especially in a field like finance, where regulation and data policies are important and strategic decision-making is required, artificial intelligence and its integration into these sectors represent the biggest challenge ahead. I’m confident that, just as in the past, our regulators will make the right decisions and develop the most effective policies to guide the transformation of the finance and banking sectors through artificial intelligence,” he noted.
Dağlıoğlu also pointed to the importance of sustainability and green issues, and while recalling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's calls for "a more just world" on every platform, he referred to participation finance as a crucial component of this call for a more just world.
Moreover, Yılmaz touched upon the global and domestic economic outlook, addressed the role of the finance sector and provided key data such as its active size, the share of lira in total deposits and the exit from the so-called KKM scheme, among others.
Pointing to geopolitical developments and growing protectionism, Yılmaz suggested, "Unfortunately, our world is not going through a good period," citing its impact on global growth and trade.
He said that global growth rates are becoming more moderate, meanwhile, mentioning that the Turkish economy expanded by an average of 5.4% in the past two decades, which he said was 1.9 percentage points more than the global average.
"Such an achievement over a 23-year average is remarkable. Our per capita national income was around 38% of the EU average. Today it has reached 70%. This is a significant transformation. We expect to reach 72% next year," he further said.
The vice president also reiterated that the main priority is financial stability and reducing inflation.
"We are pursuing balanced growth without neglecting either growth or employment. By the end of 2025, our per capita national income will exceed $1.5 trillion. If the IMF's predictions are realized, we will be the 16th-largest economy in the world. For the first time, we will surpass Italy and become the 4th largest economy in Europe," he noted.
Yılmaz also suggested that the unemployment rate remained in single digits for 30 months, adding that the goal is to lower it to below 8% by the end of the program period, referring to the government's medium-term program (MTP).
"Our goal is to transform Türkiye into a higher-income economy by preserving the capacity we have built. Türkiye has achieved growth, maintained a strong real economy, and brought its capacity to a certain point. Now, our priority is to reduce inflation and establish stability in financial markets," he explained.
"However, while doing this, we are implementing a balanced set of policies that do not sacrifice growth and employment. Our main approach is clear: to move Türkiye to the next level by preserving capacity, strengthening employment and ensuring financial stability," he added.
Elaborating further, Yılmaz mentioned that according to the World Bank's Atlas methodology, Türkiye was in the lower-middle income group in 2002.
"Today, for the first time, it is on the verge of entering the high-income countries category. This is a significant turning point in our economic history," he said.
Following the opening speeches, a panel discussion titled "The Future of Banking" was held, moderated by Alparslan Çakar, the chair of the Turkish Banks Association (TBB) and general manager of state lender Ziraat Bank. Participants in the panel included Osman Arslan, CEO of Halkbank; Kaan Gür, CEO of Akbank; Ömür Tan, CEO of QNB Türkiye; and Recep Baştuğ, CEO of Denizbank.
In his speech, Çakar emphasized the geopolitical risks and other risks, including trade wars and protectionism. "The tariffs and technology restrictions between the U.S. and China that began in 2024 have weakened businesspeople's ability to plan for the future. And we all see that supply wars are still ongoing," he noted.
However, he said that the Turkish banking sector has been one of "our strongest pillars supporting growth despite global shocks."
"Our banking sector, with both its asset and liability structure, has progressed in line with the medium-term program targets," he noted.
"When we look at precautionary measures from the perspective of monetary policies, the most important issue is, of course, managing this through interest rates," Halkbank's Arslan said.
In terms of interest rates, he suggested that they expect a decrease in interest rates next year as well, along with the decrease in inflation.
"However, this does not mean that there will be monetary expansion or that macro-prudential measures will be completely abandoned," he added.
The remarks came as the Turkish central bank lowered rates by 150 basis points to 38% on Thursday afternoon.
"Along with a decrease in interest rates in monetary policies, another indicator showing tightening monetary policies is the limitation on credit growth, and, at the same time, what we call selective credit policy, meaning that banks, when using credit, will focus on or prioritize areas that will not increase inflation, but will increase production, investment and exports. We do not expect a significant loosening in this set of rules in 2026," he explained.
"Even if there is a decrease in interest rates, we predict that this necessary credit policy approach, primarily credit restrictions and selective credit policy, will continue in 2026, especially in the first six months."
Gür stated that as of the end of October, the sector's return on equity was 25.4%, which he said is approximately 30% when annualized.
He suggested that this is a profitability below inflation, saying: "Therefore, fundamentally, what the banking sector needs to do is to work in an environment where it will achieve a profitability above inflation and make it sustainable."
Tan, for his part, stated that the stability program, whose main goal has been to combat inflation for the past 2.5 years, is continuing with progress, along with a significant decrease in inflation, from 75% to 31%.
Noting that more resources will be allocated to the real sector in 2026, he also said: "The gradual decrease in interest rates will improve banks' margins, while digitalization and increased efficiency will support fee and commission income."
Baştuğ, for his part, said that Turkish banks have been disciplined since the 2000s, underscoring that it is a well-known and transparent sector.
