Türkiye is launching a low-cost TL 250 billion ($5.18 billion) financing package aimed at supporting the manufacturing industry, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır said Friday.
The package will provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large companies with loans of up to 36 months, including a grace period of up to six months, Kacır told an event in Istanbul.
The financing is intended to ease manufacturers' access to financing while encouraging companies to preserve employment levels.
The announcement comes after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said late last month the government would expand the Investment Commitment Advance Loan Program to TL 750 billion from TL 500 billion.
This initiative is part of a larger TL 1 trillion financing package designed to support Turkish manufacturers, exporters, and industrial investment projects amidst tightening financial conditions.
Under the updated support framework, companies will be offered loans with both fixed and variable financing costs, Kacır said.
The maximum loan amount for large companies has been raised to TL 150 million from TL 50 million, while individual company limits will be determined in proportion to labor costs.
Fixed-rate loans under the program will carry an annual financing rate of 37%, while variable-rate loans will be priced at the Turkish Lira Overnight Reference Rate (TLREF) plus 1 percentage point, according to Kacır.
The government will cover 12 percentage points of the financing cost for companies that maintain their average employment levels from January to June during the July to December period.
As a result, the annual financing cost of fixed-rate loans could fall to as low as 25%, Kacır said.
The program will also provide credit guarantee support for SMEs.
Companies will be able to apply for the financing package starting Tuesday.
"We are living in a time when global balances are being redefined and geopolitical tensions are accelerating the race for economic and technological supremacy," Kacır said.
In a period marked by rising protectionist barriers, reshaped supply chains, and geopolitical tensions testing the global economy, Kacır said Türkiye stands out for its stability and is increasingly solidifying its position as a hub for production and investment.
Kacır stressed that the government's policies and the efforts of industrialists have helped the industrial production index increase 3.5-fold over the past 23 years.
"We are a leading European manufacturer in many sectors, ranging from solar panels to commercial vehicles, and from home appliances to iron and steel," he noted.
The goal now, Kacır says, is to increase the size of Türkiye's planned industrial zones from the current 160,000 hectares to 350,000 hectares by 2030 and to boost manufacturing exports to $400 billion.
According to the minister, Türkiye is the country that can competitively export the widest variety of products to the greatest number of countries across a broad region stretching from China to Central Europe.
"Thanks to our production-oriented economic model, our national income has risen from $238 billion to $1.6 trillion," he said.
