THE QUEST FOR RELIEVING THE FINANCE PROBLEMS OF THE REAL SECTOR: AN ASSESSMENT WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF UNCONVENTIONAL MACROECONOMIC POLICY TOOLS

Abstract

After the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis, the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies has been re-evaluated worldwide and the quest for new policy tools has emerged. The primary policy response of countries to the deep economic recession caused by the pandemic in 2020 has been to provide various supports to households and companies via expansionary policies in order to limit the possible long-term damage to the economy. In this process, fiscal policies were supported by unconventional monetary policy instruments, macroprudential policies and unconventional fiscal policy instruments, especially in developed countries, due to the limited effectiveness of monetary policy in lower bound conditions. These tools, which can be complementary or alternative depending on the situation and aim, can be adapted to the specific conditions of the countries and provide increased flexibility in policy design. In this study, the current conditions of the real sector in Turkey have been examined with stylized facts. Factors such as high indebtedness ratios of real sector companies, high financing and refinancing costs, deterioration in investment climate and decrease in macroeconomic predictability suppress potential output. Increasing the productivity rate and increasing the potential growth rate in the economy in general can be possible by subsidizing productive investments and promoting strategic/key sectors in the real sector. In this context, it is assessed that unconventional macroeconomic policy instruments can be effective in relieving the financing problems of the real sector in Turkey and promoting productive investments.