Turkish economy grows by 7.5 pct in Q2

[Yayamaz Kayimca]

ISTANBUL/ANKARA - TDN/Referans with wires


The Turkish Statistics Institute (TUİK) announced encouraging figures for the Turkish economy on Monday: In the second quarter Turkish gross domestic product (GDP) grew to 7.5 percent while gross national product (GNP) increased to 8.5 percent.
Over the whole of 2005 GNP grew 7.6 percent. Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Şener said on Monday that year-end growth was likely to be near 6 percent but added that the growth target would not be revised. The official government growth target remains 5 percent.
“It is out of the question to revise targets and deviate from the program's fundamental targets and principles,” he told a press conference in Ankara.
Şener also said Turkey expected foreign direct investment (FDI) of between $17 billion and $20 billion in 2006. FDI has risen sharply on the back of EU accession talks, with international companies' search for new growth markets and political stability in Turkey. He forecast a consumer price index (CPI) in single digits before 2006's end. CPI is currently hovering above 10 percent, after a rocky three months during which the lira lost as much as 25 percent of its value against the dollar, undermining consumer confidence and prompting the central bank to raise borrowing rates 425 basis points and lending rates 625 points.