Newsletters & Press

The Turkish economy ended 2020 with remarkable growth, at 1.8%, driven by particularly vigorous growth in the last two quarters of the year (respectively 6.7% and 5.9% year-on-year). ). Turkey became the only G20 country, along with China, and one of the 26 economies in the world, out of 193 countries monitored by the World Bank, to have posted a growth last year. This growth was notably stimulated by the consumption of Turkish households, which fed two thirds of the growth of the last quarter, as well as by investments, boosted by the distribution of loans at low rates until the end of November. With the partial lifting of restrictions in March, Turkey should succeed in extending sustained growth in 2021, which could reach 6% according to the IMF.

A new economic reform program was unveiled at the beginning of the month, one of the main reforms will consist in strengthening public finance structures and implementing budgetary discipline, particularly to overcome inflation, which has accelerated these last months. The roadmap also includes measures to stimulate investment, production, employment and exports in order to boost growth. The program includes the review of the foreign investment incentive system which will consist of adjustments aimed at simplifying the current system while making it more efficient. These new investment reforms having aroused the interest of foreign partners, the Turkish Minister of Finance announced the holding of a meeting with the ambassadors of the European Union and the G20.

In terms of health, a partial lifting of the restrictions has been applied since March 1. Adjustments have been made according to the contamination rate by region with a classification of the risk in four levels (low, medium, high and very high). Finally on vaccine management, Turkey has moved to phase two of its vaccination schedule established in four phases: it is now professionals working in specific sectors of activity who are called to be vaccinated (education, security forces, logistics, food professionals, ...). Since the start of vaccination, the country has administered the vaccine to nearly 15 million people, of whom 6.4 million have received the second dose. Last week 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine were received.