Mehmet Şimşek

Türkiye has secured an additional 250 million euros ($270,540) in funding from the Council of Europe Development Bank as part of reconstruction efforts in regions affected by last year's earthquakes in the country's south, Finance and Treasury Minister Mehmet Şimşek has announced.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 3 met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Kazakhstan's capital Astana, where he traveled for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

Türkiye has witnessed strong capital inflows in the past months and foreign reserves are no longer a concern, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said, adding that capital inflows could accelerate further after Türkiye was removed from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) "gray list."

The international financial crime watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) removed Türkiye from its "gray list" of countries that require special scrutiny on June 28.

"We succeeded," Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek wrote on X ahead of FATF's official announcement of Türkiye's removal - a long-awaited move that is expected to accelerate foreign investments.

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek met with main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy leader for economic affairs Yalçın Karatepe on June 24, marking a move in the ongoing "softening" and "normalization" period in the Turkish politics.

The meeting also included CHP secretary-general Selin Sayek Böke and deputy leader Volkan Demir.

Work on introducing a tax on stock transactions has been postponed after feedback from all relevant parties, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said.

"We are postponing the draft tax work for the stock exchange for a while for further re-evaluation," Şimşek wrote on the social media platform X.

A delegation from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) is set to meet with Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek in the coming days to propose reforms for a "fair tax system."

The decision was reached during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's landmark visit to the CHP headquarters, the first in 18 years.

World Bank President Ajay Banga with Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek in Ankara on June 11.

The World Bank has lowered its growth projection for the Turkish economy for 2024 from a previous 3.1 percent to 3 percent.

In its Global Economic Prospects Report released on June 11, the bank also cut the GDP growth forecast for 2025 from 3.3 percent in January to 3 percent.

The Turkish economy's resilience to external shocks is increasing, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said, referring to the strengthening of foreign reserves and macro-financial stability.

For the first time since 2020, the Central Bank's net reserves, excluding swaps, moved to positive territory, Şimşek wrote on the social media platform X.

Imposing a tax on proceeds from crypto assets and stocks is not on the government's agenda, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek has said.

Speaking at an event organized by the International Investors' Association (YASED) in Ankara, Şimşek, however, told reporters that "a very limited" transaction fee or tax may be levied on those assets.