Minister sees first-quarter growth at 7 pct

ANKARA

Leading indicators point to a 7 percent economic growth in the first quarter of 2022, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said yesterday, reiterating the government’s determination to fight inflation.

“By looking at the indicators, we can confidently say that the strong and balanced growth continued in the first quarter. The data to be released tomorrow hopefully will confirm this,” said Nebati in a speech he delivered at the General Assembly of the Banks Association of Turkey in Istanbul.

The minister recalled that the country’s industrial production grew more than 10 percent on an annual basis in the January-March period, the number of employed people neared 30 million in March and the 12-month exports climbed to $240 billion in April.

“The Turkish economy continues to create jobs and support production on a sustainable path,” Nebati said.

Despite the global challenges, the Turkish Economic Model, which is designed to address the current account deficit problem and the underlying causes, ensured a consistent and strong growth, Nebati said.

The country’s economy grew by 9.1 percent in the final quarter of 2021, while the whole year growth was 11 percent.

The annual growth rates were 7.2 percent and 22 percent in the first and second quarters of last year, while the economy expanded 7.5 percent in the three months from July to September.

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) is set to release the growth data for the quarter today.

Fight against inflation

Nebati also reiterated that the government is working to make sure that price stability is achieved.

“We see inflation as a matter which should be tackled by concerted efforts by all stakeholders. We think that the deterioration in the inflation outlook is temporary and due to the factors related to supply and the rising costs,” the minister said, adding that the government has taken and will continue to take steps to protect people against inflation.

Nebati recalled that the Food and Agricultural Product Markets Monitoring and Assessment Committee convened on May 29.

“We expect agricultural output to increase this year compared to last year thanks to favorable weather conditions. We also assess that grain production will exceed domestic consumption over the next 12-months. All those factors will help food inflation to decline,” the minister said.

TÜİK will release the inflation data for May later this week on June 3.

Consumer prices advanced 7.25 percent in April from March, while the annual consumer price inflation rate climbed from 61.1 percent to 69.97 percent.

In April, food prices were up 13.4 percent on a monthly basis for an annual increase of 89.1 percent.