Türkiye Wednesday banned layoffs and unveiled a temporary wage support scheme in 10 provinces, aimed at safeguarding workers and businesses in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes that jolted the southeastern region earlier this month.
The moves are a part of the government's steps to minimize the economic impact of Türkiye's worst disaster in modern history.
The massive Feb. 6 quakes, centered in southern Kahramanmaraş province, have left at least 42,310 people dead, according to Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), and severely hit neighboring Syria.
Some 13.5 million people, or over 15% of the country's population, live across the 10 quake-hit provinces, where authorities said over 139,000 buildings were either destroyed or so severely damaged that they need to be torn down.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said 865,000 people were living in tents, 23,500 in containers, while 376,000 were in student dormitories and public guesthouses outside the earthquake zone as of Tuesday. Some 270 tent cities have been set up in the affected provinces.
Under Ankara's new economic relief plan, employers whose workplaces were "heavily or moderately damaged" will benefit from support to partially cover wages of workers whose hours had been cut, the country's Official Gazette said on Wednesday.
A ban on layoffs was introduced in 10 earthquake-hit provinces covered by a state of emergency. The region accounts for close to 10% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The Parliament imposed a state of emergency for three months on Feb. 7, after a request by President Erdoğan.
The country's central bank has postponed payments on some loans, while the Treasury declared force majeure until the end of July, and postponed tax payments for the region.
President Erdoğan on Friday said about 2.2 million people had left the disaster zone. Of those, he said, the housing needs of some 1.6 million had been fulfilled.
The government also offered salary support and imposed a layoff ban in 2020 to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19.
Business groups and economists have said the earthquake could cost Ankara up to $100 billion (TL 1.89 trillion) to rebuild housing and infrastructure and shave one to two percentage points off economic growth this year.
Wall Street bank JPMorgan estimated the quake's direct damage to buildings and infrastructure to be $25 billion.
Economists and officials estimated the quakes would cut economic growth by up to 2 percentage points this year. The government forecast growth of 5% in 2022 and had estimated growth at 5.5% in 2023 before the disaster.
The southeastern region accounts for 8.5% of Türkiye’s exports and 6.7% of imports. However, economists say the quakes are unlikely to affect Türkiye’s trade balance as exports and imports are expected to drop.
The government has pledged around TL 100 billion in relief for the region, and President Erdoğan has promised a swift reconstruction effort, pledging to build housing within one year for those left without homes.