Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz announced the official raise rate for civil servants and pensions for the first time. "We will support our retirees by pushing our means," said Yılmaz, adding, "There will be an increase of around 50 percent for civil servants and retired civil servants. "There will be a different increase for retired workers," he said.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz announced that the minimum wage will be determined in balance and that they foresee an increase of around 50 percent for civil servants and retirees.
Speaking in the TRT News live broadcast, Yılmaz stated that they will support the retirees and mobilize all the means they can. Yılmaz said, “The minimum wage will be determined in balance. We foresee an increase of around 50 percent for civil servants and retirees. He promised millions of retirees and civil servants by saying, "We will support our retirees with all the means we can."
The highlights of Yılmaz's statements are as follows:
“THE PRESIDENT IS MAKING EFFORTS FOR GAZA”
There is a real human tragedy going on in Gaza. It is not necessary to be a Muslim or a Palestinian to condemn or stop the events here. Many countries, even the West, could not give a good test in this regard. We have seen that there are countries that cannot say 'let there be a ceasefire' to these events. Those who remain silent will leave a black mark on their history. Our President is making intense efforts on this issue.
Türkiye is fulfilling its historical responsibility. We are trying to stop this bloodshed and call for a ceasefire. A ceasefire is not enough, we want permanent peace. There can be peace with the formation of an independent Palestinian state.
On the other hand, we also provide humanitarian aid. We send aid by plane, both through our bilateral relations and through the Egyptian channel. We also took important initiatives there, such as bringing patients to our country.
STEPS IN THE ECONOMY
These 6 months have been very busy. The priority of our governments has always coincided with the priority of our nation. Economy is our first agenda item.
We experienced a major earthquake in February, and with all this, the economy became even more important.
Despite the earthquake, we managed to keep the budget deficit at a reasonable level. On the other hand, our Central Bank achieved a large increase in reserves. There was a shot of nearly 44 percent in the reserves. There is a decrease of 707 billion lira in KKM, and this trend continues.
We see that with all these steps taken recently, the flow of foreign funds to Turkey has increased. The investment environment in Turkey is now positive. The Century of Türkiye will be the century of investments. Our national income exceeds the 1 trillion threshold in dollar terms for the first time in history.
LATEST SITUATION IN INFLATION
Türkiye has been very successful in real economy and growth. We aim to continue the success we have achieved in real terms by reducing inflation. Our problem is inflation. That's why fighting inflation has become our most important issue. The decline in inflation on an annual basis will be seen in 2024. Inflation will be 2025 percent in 15 and single digit in 2026.
PRECAUTION ON EXORBITIVE RENT
We have seen a significant price drop in automotive. Housing prices and rents have also lost their previous momentum, but not yet at the rate we would like. We are trying to get it even lower.
Supply-side policies are important regarding housing. First of all, we need to increase the housing supply. One of our most important steps recently is urban transformation. While controlling demand, we are also trying to permanently reduce housing prices and rents with policies that increase supply.
The 25 percent limitation on rent was a measure we took to protect tenants during the period when inflation was high. Inflation will reach a reasonable level in 2024. Therefore, as inflation decreases, we will no longer need such measures.
HOW MUCH WILL THE MINIMUM WAGE BE?
There were two important developments regarding the minimum wage last year. We increased the minimum wage by 107 percent last year. With a historic decision, we exempted the minimum wage from tax.
Now a new negotiation has begun. There are 3 sides here. It is necessary to ensure balance between businesses and employees. Therefore, we think we will determine this in balance. Our main goal has been to prevent employees from being subjected to inflation.
HOW MUCH WILL CIVIL SERVANTS AND RETIRED RECEIVE?
We will support our retirees by pushing our means. There is a difference and inflation difference that retired civil servants will receive in accordance with the collective agreement. There will be an increase of around 50 percent for civil servants and retired civil servants. Retired workers are subject to different conditions. We will take an approach that preserves the balance between different retiree segments and especially protects the lower areas.