Türkiye's top economic officials on Monday discussed, among others, the winding down of investment funds caught up in last month's turmoil.
A statement after the meeting of the Economic Coordination Board (EKK) said payments to investors in the funds should start soon after Parliament passes a liquidation bill, which is due to be debated this week.
The board, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, also reviewed education and labor-market policy and revisions to balance of payments statistics.
The Fund Coordination Board said Sunday that authorities have settled about half of the funds ordered to be wound down. All 66 funds run by A1 Capital, Bulls and Pardus have been settled, covering more than 45,000 people and TL 40.8 billion ($823.37 million) in cash and in kind.
The goal this week, the board said, is to pay the largest number of participants, primarily those in money market funds. The remaining funds belong to Tera, Pusula, Hedef and Atlas.
The bill governing liquidation of the troubled funds has been submitted to Parliament and approved by its Planning and Budget Committee, the EKK said. Interim payments are expected to begin as soon as possible once it enters into force.
The crisis erupted last month after several funds said they could not meet investors' redemption requests during a market sell-off, prompting a wide investigation into suspected price manipulation in thinly traded stocks.
The Capital Markets Board (SPK) suspended trading in 131 funds run by seven asset management companies, affecting nearly half a million investors.
Prosecutors have issued asset freezes and travel bans and have arrested more than 80 people, including the top executives of the asset management companies.
Economic outlook
The EKK said Türkiye's strong macroeconomic fundamentals and firmly applied policies should keep the impact of recent developments on the financial system and the real economy limited. The measures taken are meant to make capital markets more reliable and efficient, it said.
The statement described the global economy as passing through a period of multiple shocks, with uncertainty and risk at historically high levels. Supply shocks and supply chain disruptions driven by the Iran war are weighing on the global outlook, it said, making economic resilience and stability more important.
Türkiye's economic program has made growth more balanced, lowered unemployment and inflation, strengthened financial stability and established fiscal discipline, according to the statement. The government's aim now is to protect those gains while raising production capacity, productivity and competitiveness.
Education, jobs
The board named raising the quantity and quality of education, and linking education more closely to employment, as priorities, noting that education has had the largest share of the budget for years.
It said green, digital and demographic change are reshaping labor-market needs, so education and employment policies must keep pace with technology and sector needs.
The government wants to increase the supply of skilled workers where they are needed, support productivity and encourage groups that struggle to enter the labor force, especially young people and women, to find work.
Balance of payments
The board also assessed how revisions to balance of payments statistics affect the "net errors and omissions" line, which captures transactions the statistics do not record.
The EKK includes the ministers of finance, trade, labor, energy, industry and agriculture, along with senior officials from other key economic institutions, including the central bank.