Business News Turkey March 2024

Business

Politics

Landslide in East Anatolian gold mine

Approximately 10 million cubic meters of earth have slid in the Çöpler Mine Site in Erzincan province, where the Canadian-Turkish partnership Anagold Mining has been extracting gold since 2010. Nine workers were trapped underground. Reports that the soil pile consisted of materials washed with cyanide and sulfuric acid have raised concerns about environmental hazards. Several company officials considered responsible for the incident have been detained.

Feb. 14, 2024

Erdoğan visits Egypt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has travelled to Cairo to meet with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. As part of the visit, which officially ended a 12-year period of cold relations, a joint declaration on strategic cooperation was signed by the two leaders. El-Sisi stated that his country aims to achieve a USD 15 bn mutual trade target with Turkey, while Erdoğan said that they are ready to work together with Egypt for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Feb. 15, 2024

Erdoğan receives Aliyev

Azerbaijan’s President İlham Aliyev has paid his first official visit to Ankara after being re-elected to this position. After their meeting, President Erdoğan stated that they aspire to increase the total trade volume between the two countries, which exceeded USD 7.5 bn last year, to USD 15 bn. Aliyev declared that in addition to energy and transportation, new opportunities have emerged between the two countries in the defence industry, noting that there are concrete plans for joint production. Following the talks, agreements were signed between the two countries in the fields of taxation, veterinary medicine, and higher education.

Feb. 20, 2024

Abbas in Ankara

President Erdoğan has held a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara. In Erdoğan’s words, one of the greatest barbarisms of the last century is being witnessed, and the Netanyahu administration, with the unlimited support of Western powers, is clearly committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Stating that Turkey has shipped more than 37,000 tons of relief supplies to the region so far, Erdoğan added that more than 900 patients and their companions have been brought to Turkey for treatment.

Mar. 6, 2024

Erdoğan hosts Zelenskyy

President Erdoğan has hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Istanbul. The two leaders discussed the developments in the Russia-Ukraine war, shipping security in the Black Sea, and cooperation in the defence industry. Erdoğan declared that Turkey is ready to act as host for a peace summit that Russia would also attend.

Mar. 8, 2024

Economy

Significant drop of FDI in 2023

Last year, the volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Turkey decreased by 22.1% to USD 10.6 bn. Manufacturing was the sector attracting the most FDI (USD 1.7 bn), followed by the wholesale and retail trade (USD 984 mn). With USD 394 mn, computers, electronic-electrical and optical equipment was the main sub-sector in the manufacturing industry, ahead of chemicals, chemical products, basic pharmaceutical products and materials with USD 316 mn. Among the regions of the world, Europe was the largest source of FDI, with the leading countries being the Netherlands, Germany, the UAE, Qatar, and Russia.

Feb. 14, 2024

Turkish Central Bank keeps interest rate constant

Under its new leadership, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey has kept its policy rate (the one-week repo auction rate) constant at 45.00%. The bank stated that “the current level of the policy rate will be maintained until there is a significant and sustained decline in the underlying trend of monthly inflation and until inflation expectations converge to the projected forecast range.”

Feb. 22, 2024

Imports down 22.0% in January

In January 2024, the Turkish economy registered an increase of exports by 3.5%, while imports decreased by 22.0% over the same month of the previous year (YOY). With exports amounting to USD 20.0 bn and imports of USD 26.2 bn, the trade deficit dropped by 56.4% to USD 6.2 bn during the same period. In January, Germany continued to be Turkey’s most important export partner (USD 1.8 bn), followed by the USA (USD 1.2 bn), and Iraq (USD 1.1 bn). The Russian Federation was the country with the most imports to Turkey (USD 4.3 bn), ahead of China (USD 2.9 bn), and Germany (USD 1.9 bn).

Feb. 28, 2024

4.5% economic growth in 2023

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Turkey’s GDP grew by 4.0% compared with the same period of the previous year. Accordingly, the annual GDP at current prices in 2023 was announced as TRY 26.3 tn (USD 1,118.6 bn), and the annual growth as 4.5%. Among the activities constituting the GDP, the construction sector grew by 7.8%, services by 6.4%, and the manufacturing industry by 1.6%, whereas agriculture contracted by 0.2%. The GDP per capita at current prices officially increased to USD 13,110.

Feb. 29, 2024

Inflation continues to rise

In February 2024, consumer prices in Turkey were 4.53% higher than in the previous month, with a CPI increase of 67.07% YOY. The biggest monthly price increase occurred in education (12.76%), followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages (8.25%). No decrease occurred among the main product groups. As before, the highest annual price increase was in hotels, cafés, and restaurants (94.78%). The domestic producer price index (D-PPI) went up 3.74% on a monthly basis, and 47.29% YOY.

Mar. 4, 2024

Fitch upgrades Turkey’s rating

Fitch Ratings has raised Turkey’s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating from B to B+, at the same time upgrading the country’s outlook from stable to positive. The agency emphasized the increased confidence in the durability and effectiveness of policies, reduced external liquidity risks, and an expected decrease in inflation as the main reasons of its assessment.

Mar. 9, 2024

Unemployment decreases YOY

In January 2024, approximately 3,214,000 people in Turkey aged 15 and older were officially out of work. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.1% was 0.2 points up from the previous month, but 0.6 points down YOY. The labour force participation rate registered as 53.9% in total, and 36.6% for females.

Mar. 11, 2024

Industrial production continues to grow slowly

In January, Turkey’s industrial production index increased by 1.1% YOY, with the manufacturing industry recording a plus of 0.4%. The largest increases in the manufacturing industry category were reported in the product groups “other transport equipment” (32.0%), “tobacco products” (17.3%), and “beverages” (16.2%) while the highest decreases occurred in the product groups “leather and related products” (-21.7%), “wearing apparel” (-13.9%), and “computers, electronic and optical products” (-13.6%).

Mar. 12, 2024

Overview of Monthly Data

Growth Rates

Inflation