Turkey set to continue robust growth: Minister

DENIZLI/ISTANBUL

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Turkey is set to extend the robust growth of 6 percent it recorded in the last quarter of 2019, the country’s treasury and finance minister said March 9.

“When we look at the budget, income and capacity usage figures, don’t be surprised if you see growth in the first quarter [of 2020] that is better than the growth of 6 percent in the last quarter [of 2019],” Berat Albayrak said, addressing members of the business community in the southwestern province of Denizli.

The Turkish government is determined to bring the inflation rate down to 8.5 percent by the end of the year, he added.

The Turkish economy grew 6 percent year on year in the fourth quarter and 0.9 percent year-round in 2019, according to official data.
At current prices, Turkey’s gross domestic product stood at 4.28 trillion Turkish Liras ($755 billion) last year, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said Feb. 28.

The Turkish government is forecasting 5 percent economic growth this year.

The inflation rate in Turkey was recorded at 12.37 percent in February, representing a monthly increase of 0.22 percent.
Albayrak said his ministry has prepared working capital loan and investment credit packages for textile and garment companies.

Both manufacturers and retailers in the textile and garment sectors will be eligible for loans of up to 100 million liras (nearly $16.38 million) at interest rates as low as 9 percent, according to the minister.

Denizli has become one of Turkey’s leading centers for textile manufacturing in recent years.

Companies in the Aegean province exported textile and apparel products worth $207.3 million in the first two months of the year, according to data from the Denizli Exporters Association.

The main destinations for Denizli’s export products were the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, the United States, the Netherlands and France.

Banks post record profits

Meanwhile, Turkish banks increased profits of 147.2 percent in January compared to the same month of the previous year, rising 7.9 billion liras ($1.3 billion), according to the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK).

But the interest income for banks decreased 4.5 percent annually to 32.9 billion liras ($5.3 billion).

Some 24.7 billion liras of the total interest income came from credits, the BDDK said.

Turkish banks’ profits plunged 8.1 percent in 2019.