Steps to support economy reach $29 billion: Minister

The Turkish government's steps to support the economy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic have reached a value of 200 billion Turkish Liras ($28.7 billion), Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has said.

"The total value of the steps we have taken so far has reached 200 billion lira," Albayrak said in a video posted on his Twitter account on April 25.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan initially announced a 100 billion lira package to support the economy on March 18, postponing debt payments and reducing tax burdens in some sectors. Since then, Ankara has gradually widened such measures.

Turkey's parliament ratified a bill on April 16 to alleviate the effects of the novel coronavirus on economic and social life.

The support measures are applicable to people who lost their jobs after March 15. The government is already paying 60 percent of staff salaries of firms forced out of business due to "force majeure" incidents such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the new omnibus bill, employment contracts cannot be nullified for a three-month period except in unconscionable situations.

Turkey will also pay 39.2 Turkish Liras (about $5.7) per day for three months to workers forced to take unpaid leave due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Among the measures, financing amount to 107.4 billion lira has been provided to some 120,000 companies to support them during the outbreak, Albayrak said.

An additional 16.8 billion lira has been provided in support to shop owners, he added.

Also, 1,000 lira in financial support has been paid to each of 4.4 million families, with a total of 22.3 billion lira set aside to meet the basic needs of some 4 million citizens, according to his remarks.

The government announced that over...