Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım's call for banks to support small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and tradesmen for the sake of production, investment, employment and economic growth has not gone unanswered, with banks beginning to support the government's objective of turning 2017 into a year of production and investments.

The Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB), which has some 1.3 million members, made an agreement with Deniz Bank on providing commercial loans for SMEs with an annual interest rate of less than 10 percent. This has been another step taken by banks to support the economy after reducing interest rates on consumer and housing loans.

The TOBB is also holding talks with other banks in an attempt to reduce annual interest rates on commercial loans below 10 percent from 18 percent currently.Following the finance summit, which started at the Presidential Palace and continued at the Çankaya prime ministerial palace, banks are competing in reducing loan rates. They dropped monthly interest rates on housing loans to 0.9 percent and on consumer loans to 1.14 percent in order to support those who want to buy houses and to meet customers' need for cash under favorable conditions.

TOBB Chairman Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said they found the banks' steps to reduce loan rates positive, adding that banks will reduce commercial loan interests to 9.9 percent from 18 percent in accordance with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's demand. The new loan rates will be soon launched by Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and bank managers. Hisarcıklıoğlu said, "We are happy that banks give off their profits and reduce loan rates." He said the significant fall in bounced checks reveals that the Turkish economy is much stronger than estimated.