On Thursday, Albayrak held meetings with the largest U.S. investment companies, including Stone Harbor, Alliance Bernstein, Massachusetts Financial Services, Neuberger Berman, Wellington Management, NWI Management, Lazard, PGIM and Invesco, and the banking giants such as Citibank, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.
The individual meetings with each investment company or bank were attended by CEOs and chairmen in charge of developing countries. The total assets managed by the investment companies joining the meetings amounted to $5 trillion.
Albayrak also met with Cyril Muller, the World Bank's vice president in charge of Europe and Central Asia.
"We have prepared our road map and will implement it with determination," Albayrak said, responding to questions about Turkey in the meeting that was held in quite a constructive atmosphere.
Albayrak provided information about Turkey's New Economic Program (NEP) that was announced last week, stating that after the June 24 elections, monetary and fiscal policies have been implemented with stronger coordination. The minister also noted that all ministries prepared their own action plans regarding budgetary discipline, the fight against the current account deficit and inflation within the framework of the NEP, adding, "Turkey is moving with firm steps toward achieving main economic objectives thanks to strong compliance within the public sector."
The minister also underscored that the domestic and foreign tests facing Turkey since 2013, terrorist attacks and regional developments might have grave economic consequences on all developing countries, continuing: "Thanks to our strong economic infrastructure, we have been less affected by these processes. Thanks to our past experiences and political stability, our economy has successfully passed these tests. We are aware of the challenges we are facing now; however, for a much stronger structure, we have prepared our road map and will implement it with determination."
The minister further highlighted that the five-year authority that the government gained, especially after the June 24 elections, has facilitated the actualization of longer-term strategies in the economy, adding, "The firm steps needed for structural reforms in all areas of the economy will be taken very soon."
Albayrak also attended a panel meeting organized by the think tank Munich Security Conference in New York, answering questions from German finance and business world representatives about Turkey. Throughout his New York program, Albayrak also attended a roundtable discussion held by the Turkish Heritage Organization, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and met with global investors and attended the 9th Turkey Investment Conference.
In his speech at the 9th Turkey Investment Conference late Wednesday, Albayrak had said very important steps have been taken in terms of budget discipline in the last two months. "We aim to keep our budget deficit below 2 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP). In order to achieve this goal, we first achieved savings and revenues worth TL 35 billion [$5.8 billion]."
The new economic program suggests the government predicted ratio of the budget deficit to the GDP will be 1.9 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2019.
Noting that everything that needs to be done in the fight against inflation has begun to be rolled out, Albayrak said an important move from the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) came in August and discussions on the independence of the bank ended with the strong steps in monetary policy.
Turkey's annual inflation was 17.90 percent in August, up from July's figure of 15.85 percent. Over the past five years, annual inflation saw its lowest level at 6.13 percent in April 2013, while the figure reached its highest level last month.
According to the new economic program, inflation could rise to 20.8 percent this year before dropping to 15.9 percent in 2019 and 9.8 percent in 2020.
The central bank hiked interest rates by 6.25 percentage points on Sept. 3 in a bid to tame double-digit inflation and put a floor under the lira, which has also been pressured by a row between Ankara and Washington over the trial of the American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, who is currently under house arrest in İzmir due to his alleged links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) and the PKK, a U.S. and EU-designated terrorist organization.
