Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek told a session of the Global Finance Summit, held under COP31 in Türkiye, that the country’s fiscal position is very strong. He put the budget deficit at about 3 percent of GDP and public debt at about 22 percent of GDP. Türkiye has spent more than $100 billion on reconstruction after the earthquakes, and he said that spending had not pushed either figure out of line. The session date was not given.
Energy and climate targets
Şimşek said net zero by 2053 and 175 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity by 2040 are priorities for the government. He put the financing needed for industrial decarbonisation at roughly $300 billion. Energy imports account for a large part of the current account deficit, he said. Türkiye paid about $600 billion for oil and gas imports over the past 10 years, more than its gross external debt.
He also said more than 70 percent of the country’s primary energy resources are imported. Şimşek described 2026 as an extremely challenging year and referred to the largest energy supply shock in recent history. More than half of Türkiye’s exports go to Europe, he added.
Calls on development lenders
Şimşek urged multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, the EBRD and the IFC, to help mobilise private capital and reduce investment risks. The remarks were made within the first COP climate conference hosted in Türkiye.
