Turkey’s growth may be in double-digit in third quarter: Minister

IĞDIR

The Economy Ministry forecast’s Turkey’s third-quarter growth at 9.6 percent and a double-digit figure “would not come as a surprise,” Minister Nihat Zeybekci said on Oct. 29, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

“We expect a good outcome in the fourth-quarter as well. We expect annual growth of over 6 percent at year-end,” Zeybekci was quoted as saying during a news conference in the eastern province of Iğdır.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 28 said “no one should be surprised” if year-end economic growth hits 7 percent.

The government aims for annual growth of 5.5 percent according to its 2017-2020 economic policy roadmap.

Prime Minister Binali said on Oct. 25 that Turkey may become the fastest-growing G-20 country by the third quarter.

“Turkey may break a record in the third quarter. In the third quarter, Turkey will most probably be the fastest-growing country in the G-20,” Yıldırım said at the Aegean Economic Forum in western province of İzmir.

The Turkish economy expanded 5.1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, official data showed on Sept. 11, showing a strong recovery in investments and exports, helped by the government’s fiscal stimulus measures after growth was hit last year.

Following the release of the second quarter growth data, various international agencies and organizations lifted their 2017 growth forecasts for Turkey, including the IMF and the World Bank.