Babacan says interest costs have increased 144 percent in 3 years

The central government's interest costs have increased 144 percent in three years, said former Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan. His statement comes in response to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's reference to him on a CNN Türk broadcast, saying he was in favor of increasing interest rates during the 2008 financial crisis.

Tuesday January 07 2020 03:16 pm

Duvar English

The government's interest costs have increased 144 percent in three years, said former Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan in response to a comment by the President about the former's financial policies.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during a CNN Türk broadcast that Babacan was in favor of increasing interest rates before the 2008 financial crisis because he was receiving instructions from the International Money Fund.

"Interest costs that the government pays with taxpayers' money have increased from 57 billion lira to 139 billion in three years," Babacan said in his tweets responding to Erdoğan, adding that "the rate of increase is 144 percent."

Babacan also noted that the interest costs coming out of the central government's budget were 57 billion lira in 2017, 74 billion lira in 2018, 103 billion lira in 2019 and 139 billion lira in 2020.

Also in the process of forming a new political party, Babacan said that he's ready to "evaluate the past from every angle," but that the future of Turkey should be focused on instead of dwelling on the past.