Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that many indicators show that his country is on the right path in the economy. This came in a speech after he chaired a government meeting at the presidential complex in Ankara yesterday evening, Tuesday.
He explained that many indicators, such as the decrease in the risk premium, the increasing interest of foreign investors in the Turkish market, and the positive outlook of international rating agencies, show that “we are on the right path.”
Last Friday, Moody’s credit rating agency announced that it had raised its outlook on Turkey’s rating from “stable” to “positive.”
Moody’s confirmed in a statement that the main reason for changing the outlook to positive is “the clear change in economic policy, especially the return to traditional monetary policy.”
Erdogan added that the increasing strength of Turkey’s competition in global markets allows it to implement its economic program successfully.
The Turkish President stressed that his country will continue work, production and economic growth without stopping until it reaches its goal “to be among the 10 largest economies in the world.”
He stated that “despite the costs of global and regional crises and the negative effects of the economic machinations to which Turkey is exposed, it continues investments in all fields and increases foreign reserves.”
Erdogan pointed out that Turkey entered the new year with foreign reserves amounting to about 146 billion dollars, expressing his aspiration to increase the number even more than that.
He pointed out that exports are one of the most important topics in the medium-term economic program, pointing out that the value of Turkish exports exceeded 256 billion dollars last year and achieved a record high in the history of the republic.
Increase exports
Erdogan stated that they aim to raise the value of Turkish exports of goods and services to $375 billion in 2024.
It is noteworthy that the risk premium index in Turkey fell to below 300 basis points last December, after it was at the level of 700 points in May 2023.
A risk premium (credit default swaps) is a form of insurance against default on bonds by a company or issuer of sovereign debt.
At the end of last November, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Polat announced that his country had become the fastest growing economy among the G20 and OECD countries during the third quarter of 2023.
The Turkish economy achieved growth of 5.9% in the third quarter of 2023, according to official data from the Turkish Statistics Authority, which exceeded expectations, driven by household spending.
Polat explained at the time that the Turkish economy maintained its high growth performance for 13 consecutive quarters, with the gross domestic product increasing by 5.9% during the aforementioned period. He stated that the economy achieved growth of 4.7% in the first 9 months of 2023.
He added that Ankara aims, through policies aimed at increasing investment, production and exports, to enhance overall financial stability by ensuring a permanent improvement in the current account in the coming period on the one hand, and continuing high sustainable growth on the other hand.
