Chances for economy ahead amid elections

ISTANBUL

A number of opportunities exist for the Turkish economy in 2015 with decreasing oil prices and steps toward long-term structural reforms, despite the fact there will be general elections, said Turkish conglomerate Sabancı Holding’s Chairperson Güler Sabancı Dec. 29.

“Turkey has been growing around 2.5-3 percent for the last few years behind its real potential. We find the government’s long-term action plan very positive, although there will be elections in the coming year. This roadmap gives us hope for the future,” she said in her year-end message. 2015 will be a transition year to the next period without elections, after a series of consecutive elections, she said.

“This transition year offers many opportunities for the Turkish economy with decreasing oil prices and solid steps down the road to realizing planned long-term reforms. We expect the government to prioritize the action plan it recently announced from a long-term perspective, realizing this plan and making 2015 the first step of a new development plan,” she noted. The government recently announced the first nine programs of a detailed economic transformation plan that is aimed at reaching ambitious economic goals and boosting the economy.

“Our aim is to increase our GDP from $800 billion to $1.3 trillion by 2018, decrease the rate of the GDP’s current account deficit from 6 percent to 5.2 percent and decrease the unemployment rate to 7 percent from around 10 percent,” Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said at a press conference Nov. 6.  

Sabancı added that Turkey’s G-20 presidency and the complementary B-20 meetings are very important for both Turkish and global business circles.

She noted that Turkey should focus on developing a new constitution, taking more steps toward EU membership and making more reforms.

“The needs of the educational system should also be understood. We should also focus on strengthening women’s roles in the public,” she noted.