Turkey's new 64th government, which gained a vote of confidence last week, is expected to announce a road map for new reforms on Thursday.
The government program covers certain topics such as democratization, political stability, sustaining the development of Turkey and making a new constitution. Above all, it emphasized that this government will be a "reform government" to fit the framework of the 2023 vision that focuses on social, financial and political targets for the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. Moreover, in the election manifesto, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) made economic promises to different segments of society, such as youth and retirees, and the fulfillment of these economic promises is expected to be a priority.
The AK Party's economic pledges in the manifesto include a promise to provide up to TL 50,000 ($16,719) for youths who have work projects. Additionally, the AK Party promises to provide general health insurance for university graduates for two years. Moreover the ruling AK Party announced that pensioners will be provided an extra TL 1,200 every year and the minimum wage will be increased to TL 1,300.
The AK Party further promised to increase the monthly financial support it provides to university students from TL 330 to TL 400. In order to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in young people, the AK Party pledged to support recent university graduates who are looking to invest with a TL 50,000 ($17,564) fund with no repayment. The government will provide a further TL 100,000 in interest-free funding where necessary.
Apart from economic pledges, a new road map for structural reforms is also expected to be announced on Thursday. The government program attaches great importance to enacting long-term structural reforms for the maintenance of sustainable economic growth. In line with this, some of the most noteworthy steps, including increasing female employment, further protection provided for the users and savers of funds in financial sectors, more reforms in incentives for investments to consolidate internal markets and many other ameliorating and concrete reforms including social security and living standards, are expected to be announced in the meeting. Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Economy Mehmet Şimşek said yesterday that the reforms will be a new anchor for Turkey. Şimşek said, "Turkey had an anchor for a very long time. That was fiscal discipline. We are now adding on two more large anchors. The reforms will be the anchors. These reforms will solidify the foundation. The second important anchor was actually introduced strongly during the mid-2000s, however it weakened later on, and that is the EU anchor. We will revitalize the EU accession bid and strengthen the foundations now. That is the reason why I believe Turkey will diverge positively."
