Turkey News September 2022
Business
Tosyalı Toyo Çelik to expand tin plate production line
Tosyalı Toyo Çelik, the partnership of Japanese Toyo Kohan and Turkish Tosyalı Holding, has decided to make an investment of USD 200 mn to expand its tin plate production line. Accordingly, the production capacity is planned to increase from 650,000 to 925,000 tons by 2023. The company had started its production in 2015 and currently employs 900 people.
Aug. 31, 2022
ProntoPro merges with Turkish competitor
ProntoPro, the Italian marketplace for services, has merged with its Turkish competitor Armut targeting to become the leading European service marketplace. The majority of the shares and management of the new company will belong to Armut. The two companies together will have 12 million customers, 1.4 million service providers, and more than 200 employees.
Sep. 8, 2022
Qatar Investment Authority buys stake in Eurasia Tunnel
The Qatar Investment Authority has acquired an undisclosed number of shares of the Eurasia Tunnel, which allows cars to pass between Europe and Asia under the Bosporus, from the South Korean partner SK Group. Thus far the tunnel was a 50-50% partnership of Turkish Yapı Merkezi and the South Korean company.
Sep. 14, 2022
Erdoğan announces mass housing campaign
Turkish President Erdoğan has announced a low-income housing project with 500,000 flats and 50,000 offices to be built throughout Turkey between 2023 and 2028. Only Turkish citizens with a monthly household income below TRY 16,000 (TRY 18,000 in Istanbul) will be eligible to apply. It will be possible to buy a home with a 10% down payment and 240 months of instalments. The project is expected to create an economy of TRY 2 trn.
Sep. 14, 2022
Politics
Palestinian President visits Turkey
Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the State of Palestine, was received in Ankara by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdoğan affirmed that his country’s steps to improve its relations with Israel would never diminish their support to the Palestinian cause. Abbas on his part thanked Turkey for its support of Palestine’s legitimate rights and freedom.
Aug. 23, 2022
Erdoğan pays visits to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia
President Erdoğan has met with Šefik Džaferović, the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Sarajevo. Afterwards, Erdoğan travelled to Belgrade to confer with Aleksandar Vučić, the President of Serbia. Following his meetings with the country leaders, Erdoğan announced that Turkish citizens will no longer require a passport for travel to those two countries, but only their identity cards, and vice versa.
Sep. 7, 2022
Turkey to pay part of Russian gas deliveries in rubles
During the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Uzbekistan, President Erdoğan convened with the leaders of Azerbaijan, China, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Iran. According to the agreement reached with Russia, Turkey shall make 25% of its payments for Russian gas deliveries in rubles.
Sep. 17, 2022
Economy
41.4% import hike in July
In July 2022, the exports of the Turkish economy increased by 13.4%, while imports were up 41.4% compared to the same month of the previous year (YOY). With exports of USD 18.6 bn, and imports of USD 29.2 bn, the trade deficit increased by 147.0% to USD 10.7 bn. In July, Germany was again Turkey’s primary export partner (USD 1.5 bn), leading the USA (USD 1.3 bn) and the UK (USD 1.0 bn). Russia remained the country accounting for the most imports to Turkey (USD 4.4 bn), ahead of China (USD 3.8 bn) and Germany (USD 1.8 bn).
Aug. 29, 2022
7.6% economic growth in Q2 2022
In the second quarter of 2022, Turkey’s GDP increased by 7.6% over the same period of the previous year. The quarterly GDP at current prices reached TRY 3,419.0 bn, and USD 219.3 bn in dollar terms. The services sector grew by 18.1% and the manufacturing industry by 9.1%, whereas the agriculture and construction industries contracted by 2.9% and 10.9%, respectively.
Aug. 31, 2022
Medium-Term Programme announced
The Turkish government has announced its Medium-Term Programme for the years 2023 to 2025. Accordingly, the Turkish economy is expected to grow by 5.0% in 2022 and 2023, and 5.5% in 2024 and 2025. The unemployment rate target for 2025 has been set at 9.6%, and the inflation rate target at 9.9%.
Sep. 4, 2022
Inflation keeps rising
In August 2022, consumer prices in Turkey increased by 1.46% in comparison to the previous month, and the CPI went up by 80.21% YOY. The highest monthly increment took place in health (7.01%), followed by education (6.55%). The only decrease among the main product groups occurred in transportation (-1.78%). The biggest annual price increase was in transportation (116.87%). The domestic producer price index (D-PPI) rose by 2.41% monthly, and by 143.75% YOY.
Sep. 5, 2022
Unemployment drops to 10.6% in July
In July 2022, some 3,644,000 people in Turkey aged 15 and older were officially out of work. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased by 1.5 points YOY to 10.6%. The labour force participation rate increased to 53.1% in total, and to 34.9% for females.
Sep. 12, 2022
Industrial production slows down
In July, Turkey’s industrial production index could increase only by 2.4% YOY, with the manufacturing industry recording an increment of 4.1%. The highest increases in the manufacturing industry category occurred in the product groups “computer, electronic and optical products” (39.5%), “basic pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical preparations” (38.9%), and “leather and related products” (29.9%). The highest decreases were reported in the product group “basic metals” (-14.5%), “beverages” (-12.7%), and “textiles” (-8.4%).
Sep. 13, 2022
Overview of Monthly Data
Growth Rates
Inflation
