Türkiye secures around $3B in financing to public sector, SMEs over past decade

ANKARA

Türkiye secured around €2.5 billion (nearly $3 billion) in financing from the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) for its public sector projects and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the last 10 years, according to a statement by the Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry on Thursday.

Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said CEB Governor Carlo Monticelli met with him during his visit to Türkiye from February 10 to 12.

Monticelli’s visit, marking his first official trip to the country, saw the signing of new deals worth €280 million ($332.5 million) in concessional financing for hospital and transportation investments.

Some €230 million ($273.1 million) of the total was signed for the Istanbul Seismic Mitigation and Preparedness Project (ISMEP), and the remaining €50 million ($59.3 million) will go to support the Marmaray project to be carried out by the Turkish Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.

The CEB’s support has been pivotal in the infrastructure resilience efforts of Türkiye, especially after the devastating earthquakes of Feb. 2023 in the country’s southeast.

Türkiye, a founding member of the bank since its establishment in 1956, received over $3 billion from the CEB over the last 10 years, and the funding largely targeted earthquake preparedness, post-disaster recovery, and SME financing.

*Writing by Emir Yildirim in Istanbul