Industrial data hints moderate growth

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey’s industrial production was up by 1.8 percent in April compared with the same period last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) reported on June 8, the latest data supporting expectations for a moderate growth for this year.

As for the sub-sectors of Turkish industry, the mining and quarrying industries dropped by 1.7 percent in the compared period, while the manufacturing industry was up by 1.8 percent. The electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply increased by 2.4 percent.

The calendar-adjusted figure for April industrial production compared with the previous month is 4.5 percent, while the increase was only 1 percent according to seasonally calendar-adjusted estimates.
The figures show the performance of Turkey’s industry to be better than market expectations, despite global economic woes, Industry Minister Nihat Ergün said in a written statement on June 8.

The industrial production index hit its highest April reading since 2005, and the data show that the 4 percent annual growth target in the Medium Term Program is realistic, he said.

The Garanti Bank Economic Research Department said the industrial production data was higher than market expectations and in line with the Central Bank’s moderate growth expectation for the second quarter.

The figure was 2.8 percent in the first quarter.

However, Garanti’s report said they were keeping the 2.7 percent annual growth expectation unchanged due to the financial woes in Europe, Turkey’s largest export market.

Meanwhile, the TÜİK said hourly labor force costs had increased by 8.9 percent in the first quarter of the year from the same period in 2011.

The figure is 9 percent in industry, 7.4 percent in the construction sector and 9.2 percent in services.