By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL-Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek reported via Twitter that he had a very productive meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in India at the G20 meetings. As Simsek tweeted: “Had a marathon of meetings at the margins of #G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ summit in #Gandhinagar, #Gujarat, #India. One of the productive meetings was with the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, Janet Yellen.” Simsek lauded Turkish-American relations, commenting: “The U.S.-Turkiye friendship dates back to 1831. We are committed to further improving the relationship between our two countries.”
The two treasury officials met for 45 minutes with the head of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkiye (CBRT) Hafize Gaye Erkan in attendance. Yellen outlined an economic overview and policy direction for Turkiye, the U.S. Treasury reported in a statement. Discussion also focused on how Turkiye and the U.S. can cooperate to help resolve global economic problems and increase wealth in the economies of both countries. Simsek also met with World Bank President Ajay Banga on the sidelines of the G20 as well as Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong. The Turkish treasury chief also met with EU Commission Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni, Head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Odile Renaud-Basso and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
