Turkey posts sharp fall in growth rate for 2012

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Until the middle of the year, the government was expecting growth to mirror 2011 levels, but poorer-than-expected quarterly figures forced Cabinet ministers to downgrade their expectations. Hürriyet photo

The Turkish economy grew by only 2.2 percent last year, far behind the government’s initial expectations and the 2012 figure of 8.8 percent, as rising exports failed to cover falling domestic demand.

According to data revealed by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) yesterday, the Turkish economy grew by just 1.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 and 2.2 percent over the entire year; initial market expectations had forecast growth rates of 2.6 and 2.3 percent, respectively. The growth gave Turkey a gross domestic product of 117.7 billion Turkish Liras ($64.8 billion).

The steep reduction in the growth rate mainly stemmed from low domestic demand as domestic consumption pulled the overall figure down by 0.6 points while net exports and state consumption and investment expenditures elevated the rate by 1.9 and 2.9 percent, respectively.