Turkish Minister of Finance Mehmet Simsek has said that Ankara expects the nation's economy to grow by around 4.5% in 2023.
“In 2023, we are forecasting a growth rate of around 4.5% despite all global financial problems,” he said, stressing that “the need for establishing a rebalance in the economy is very clear.”
“We will move forward in a system that embraces the principles of free exchange, and floating exchange,” he said on Thursday during the general assembly of the Banks Association of Türkiye.
The global economy is expected to reach 3% during the coming five years, he mentioned.
“Our country grew by 5.4% in real terms on average in the 2003-2022 period,” Simsek noted.
“As I said before, our main principles are transparency, consistency, predictability and complying with international norms,” he said.
"Funds started to flow into our capital markets, all these developments have eased access to foreign financing opportunities and reduced financing costs."
“The country's risk premium has decreased from 700 to around 400 basis points,” Simek said.
He remarked that international credit rating agencies have started to reveal a more optimistic outlook for the Turkish economy, adding one of the agencies raised the Turkish banking system's outlook to stable from negative.
Moody’s expects Türkiye’s economic growth to slow down, with real GDP expanding at 4.2% in 2023, down from 5.6% growth in 2022.
It expects inflation to stay high at 51% in 2023, although down from 72% recorded in 2022.
The Turkish minister also vowed to further strengthen financial stability in the upcoming period. “Simplification and tightening policies will continue,” he added.
Strong domestic demand poses risks through the current account deficit and inflation, Simsek said.
In another context, Türkiye's unemployment rate fell to 9.7% in the second quarter of this year, down to 0.3% compared to the quarter before, the country's statistical authority said Thursday.
The number of unemployed individuals decreased by 73,000 when compared to the quarter earlier, TurkStat added.
The number of those employed in the same period increased by 151,000 and reached 31.5 million, the data revealed.
