Turkey's interest payments surge to 1.5 trillion lira amid fiscal strain

İYİ Party leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu warned that the state paid about 1.5 trillion Turkish lira in interest during the first six months of the year, a sum he likened to the annual wages of 4.5 million minimum‑salary workers. He added that the budget deficit rests at roughly 1 trillion lira and argued that the interest burden harms farmers, retirees, workers and small‑business owners.

MÜSİAD President Burhan Özdemir, speaking on live TV, said the Central Bank is expected to keep the policy rate unchanged in the upcoming decision. He suggested the bank might shorten overnight repo auctions to lower funding costs, but cautioned that a rate cut alone would not reverse the slowdown affecting most sectors, noting that capacity underuse and construction slowdown require broader measures.