Turkish ministers don’t agree on growth target

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Economy Minister Çağlayan says Turkey needs a higher growth rate. AA photo

Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said yesterday that the country needed a growth rate between 5.5 and 6 percent, despite the growth target in the medium program being determined as 4 percent. Çağlayan’s words laid bare a rift between ministers, after Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan signaled last week that the growth target would decrease.

Çağlayan stated that Turkey needed to grow by between 5.5 and 6 percent in order to achieve the government’s 2023 goals, speaking at a meeting with the board of the Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (MÜSİAD). “It’s not long until 2023, we need to grow annually by approximately 5.5 to 6 percent. As demands shrink in the countries to which we export, it puts further pressure on our exports. We need to achieve an export goal of $158 billion. This year, exports might not have a positive effect on growth, so other dynamics of growth should be put into effect,” he said.

However, Babacan said on July 17 that it should be “no surprise” if the government revises down its growth expectations for this year, while adding that it had no immediate plans to do so. “Downward revisions on growth are on the table across the world because of the U.S. policy stance and Europe’s inability to recover,” Babacan said.

While Çağlayan was pointing out his opinion for the need of a higher growth rate, he also said he was still conserving the 4 percent growth target.