The incentives should include the one-year suspension of the collection of social security premiums for workers, reduce energy prices by 50 percent, and decrease the tax rates on wages, the union said in a full-page newspaper announcement. The government in return, should ask only that during the incentive implementation period, there be no lay offs in the sector, the union also said in the announcement..
The Turkish economy, in particular the textile sector, one of the country’s leading industries, is facing a major contraction stemming mainly from a decline in both domestic and foreign demand as the ongoing global financial crisis continues. The government recently revised its 2009 growth target to 3.6 percent contraction from its previous 4 percent growth forecast, and has been harshly criticized for delaying taking the necessary measures to curb the affects the mounting global economic crisis..
The announcement also urged the government to resolve the difficulties textile companies encounter when securing credit from the Turkish banking sector, adding that interest rates asked for trade loans were the highest in the world..
Both Turkish government and real sector representatives have been critical of Turkish banks for a long time, saying they were not helpful enough to support economy, despite their firm balance sheets, thanks to their strong capital adequacy ratios…The union also said other incentives should also be taken in a bid to boost domestic demand, including one-time bonus payments to pensioners and civil servants equal to their monthly salary. “SPAN lang=EN-US>Increasing the amount and period of unemployment wages could also be considered as another measure to boost slowing demand, it said.
Date:4/21/2009
Source:Hurriyet