Worst industrial output fall in years

Bloomberg

refid:10735711 ilişkili resim dosyası

Industrial output fell 13.9 percent from the same month last year, its fourth consecutive decline, the Turkish Statistical Institution, or TÜİK, said on its Web site yesterday. The Central Bank cut its benchmark rate by 1.25 percentage points last month as it tries to steer the country away from recession. Yesterday’s figure supports bank forecasts of a "sustained period of limited demand." The last time Turkey recorded four straight months of falling output was during the recession of 2001 to 2002, the worst since World War II.

"It’s a very significant contraction," said İnan Demir, economist at Finansbank in Istanbul. "But I don’t think it will come as news to the Central Bank, because they’re basing the cuts on weakening demand."

Exports fell 17.5 percent in November from a year earlier to $9.3 billion, the lowest in more than a year, said on Dec. 30. Exports of cars and other vehicles slid 45 percent to $939 million. Passenger car sales slumped an annual 57 percent in November, the fifth consecutive decline. Waning sales abroad and at home prompted producers including Toyota Motor Corp., Tofaş and Ford’s Turkish unit to suspend production in November. Motor vehicle production in the month halved from a year earlier to 59,000 units, the Automotive Manufacturers’ Association said on Dec. 22. Consumer confidence in November fell to its lowest since the measure was launched in 2003.