Turkish economy expected to grow by 7 pct in 2017
More growth is expected in third, fourth quarters, President Erdogan says in Ankara
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he expects Turkish economy to grow around 7 percent in 2017.
Addressing an award ceremony at the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, Erdogan said: “It won’t be a surprise if the Turkish economy grows by -- more than 6 percent -- probably 7 percent around in 2017.”
“We reached 5.2 growth rate in the first two quarters. We expect higher rates in the third and fourth quarters.”
Erdogan’s comments came after Turkey’s economy expanded beyond forecasts in the first quarter (5.2 percent) and second quarter (5.1 percent) of this year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
In its latest World Economic Outlook -- released before the annual conference of the IMF and World Bank, the IMF forecasted Turkey to grow by 5.1 percent in 2017, up 2.6 percentage points compared to a previous forecast of 2.5 percent.
Economic growth in Turkey is projected to grow 4 percent in 2017, up from the bank's previous estimate of 3.6 percent since April.
Recent months, a number of international institutions including, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have upgraded their 2017 growth forecast for Turkey.
The International Monetary Fund raised Turkey’s 2017 growth forecast 2.6 percentage points to 5.1 on Oct. 10 and the World Bank elevated its forecast 0.4 percentage points to 4 on Oct. 19.
Turkey achieved more than 20 percent rise in investments during the first three quarters of 2017, he said. “I suppose we will set all-time high record at the end of this year.”
Erdogan said the country’s national income stands at $853 billion and it can reach $1 trillion with little efforts.
“Our goal is to rank among the 10 biggest economies of the world,” Erdogan said. Turkish economy ranked 17th in terms of gross domestic product and 13th in terms of purchasing power parity, he added.
He said doubling the current situation would be enough to achieve the goal.
Referring to the high exchange rates recently, Erdogan said he believed they would come down in coming days.
