İYİ Party leader welcomes postponing tradespeople loans but says not enough

İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener on Jan. 27 welcomed a decision by the government for postponing loan repayments of tradespeople as part of pandemic public assistance efforts while stating that the decision was not enough.

She recalled that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that the payments to be made in the first six months of the year would be postponed in the loans made by Halkbank.

Addressing her party members at the parliament, Akşener said, "The correct step was taken on this issue, which we have been following insistently for months and that our tradesmen have complained about. This step is correct, but unfortunately not enough."

The loan repayments to be postponed should not be limited to Halkbank, she said and proposed that the deferral period should be one year instead of six months.

In addition, the interest burden arising from the postponement should be covered by the Turkish Treasury within the framework of an agreement to be made with the banks, Akşener added.

The politician criticized Erdoğan for expressing positive rhetoric regarding Turkey's economy despite difficulties due to the outbreak, saying that the president was actually aware of the problems and therefore has postponed the loans of tradespeople.

In 2020, more than 40,000 companies shut down their businesses, she said, adding that the number of businesses closed down is much higher than this since the official closure process takes time.

Turkey is capable of providing prosperity to its citizens as it has budget as well as resources, Akşener said, calling the government to use their resources for the health, peace and welfare of citizens.

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