Istanbul, Feb 13 (IANS): Turkey announced new economic measures to ease the burden of citizens against the skyrocketing cost of living amid high inflation.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at an economic meeting in Istanbul via video conference that in line with the new decisions, the 8 per cent value-added tax (VAT) on basic food products was reduced to 1 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.

He pointed out that the products, whose VAT rates were lessened to 1 per cent, have a significant weight in the inflation basket.

"We are moving decisively towards growing our country's economy with investment, employment, production, export, and current surplus," Erdogan noted.

Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said that within the scope of the incentive package, credit supports would be provided to businesses and exporters, and a mobile application would be launched to enable citizens to access affordable products.

According to Nebati, the new measures aim to bring "under-the-mattress" gold into the economy.

Turkey has long been struggling against high inflation, which surged to a two-decade high of 48.7 per cent in January.