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Turkish Economy Targets 10th Place Worldwide by 2023

A money changer counts Turkish lira bills at a currency exchange office in Istanbul. (Reuters)
A money changer counts Turkish lira bills at a currency exchange office in Istanbul. (Reuters)
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Turkish Economy Targets 10th Place Worldwide by 2023

A money changer counts Turkish lira bills at a currency exchange office in Istanbul. (Reuters)
A money changer counts Turkish lira bills at a currency exchange office in Istanbul. (Reuters)

The Turkish government aims to push its economy to the tenth place in the world, and the third in Europe by 2023. Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekçi stated that an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report issued last week showed that the Turkish economy has ranked 13th in the world and fifth in Europe.

According to the report, the GDP in Turkey hit $1.51 trillion based on purchasing power, compared with $1.5 trillion in Spain in 2012.

The minister pointed out that the time didn’t help rating agencies to renew speculation about the growth and development of the Turkish economy, noting that some agencies expected a growth of 2 percent in 2017, while others predicted a 2.8 percent, and 3 percent growth, yet, the economy grew by 5 percent in the first quarter.

Zeybekçi expected his country’s economy to grow between 5.1 and 5.5 percent in the second quarter, pointing out that growth would reach 7.5 percent in the third quarter.

According to the IMF report, the projected GDP in Turkey will reach $2.08 trillion by the end of 2017, followed by Italy with $2.3 trillion, France with $2.83 trillion, Britain with $2.91 trillion and Germany with $4.13 trillion. The report also estimated Turkey's purchasing power in 2017 to stand at $25,780, compared with $16,900 in 2010. Turkey aims to raise the average income per capita from about $10,000 currently to $25,000 in 2023.

The trade volume of the Aegean region, western Turkey during the first half of this year hit about $21 billion. According to the customs department’s data, the value of exports to the Aegean region reached $10.667 billion during the first half of 2017, while imports were $10.449 billion.

The Aegean region is one of Turkey's seven regions located in the western part of the country. It includes eight states: Izmir, Afyon, Aydin, Denizli, Manisa, Kutahya, Mugla and Oshak.

On the other hand, the Turkish Leather Exporters' Federation announced that exports of Turkish leather amounted to $858 million during the last seven months of 2017, and the shoe sector acquired $470 million of them.

Shoe exports to the Russian Federation reached $18 million in the same period last year, while it surged by $129 to $41 million in 2017. As a result, the Russian market has become the second importer of Turkish shoes after Iraq.

"Exports of the Turkish shoe industry are increasing every year. Turkish shoes are exported to 160 countries, and we can exceed $1 billion in the short term," said the federation’s chairman.

He pointed out that Russia is one of the most important markets in the Turkish shoe industry and will be participating for the first time at the Euro Shoes exhibition in Moscow in February and August of 2018.

Farouk Hanoglu, head of the shoes industry association in the Aegean region said that the shoe industry provides jobs for 200,000 people, adding that the exhibition and the quality of shoes made the Russian market top the export list.

On the other hand, Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey Numan Kurtulmuş said that the number of tourists who visited Turkey during the first six months of this year exceeded 15 million and that tourism income since the beginning of the year was over $9 billion.

He added that six million tourists visited Istanbul during the first seven months of this year, among them were 500,000 Germans.

Kurtulmuş explained that Turkey aims to boost the number of tourists to 50 million by 2023, and the tourism income to $50 billion.

The culture and tourism minister stressed the importance of work to diversify tourism in the country, noting that Turkey is already investing in various types of tourism, such as health, sports, religious, mountain, winter tourism and more.

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Business

China's Finance Ministry: Fiscal Policies Will be More 'Proactive' in 2026

A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO
A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO
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China's Finance Ministry: Fiscal Policies Will be More 'Proactive' in 2026

A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO
A man walks on a street in Beijing, China, 24 December 2025. EPA/WU HAO

China's finance ministry on Sunday said fiscal policies will be more proactive next year, reiterating its focus on domestic demand, technological innovation and a social safety net.

The statement comes as trading partners urge the world's second-biggest economy to reduce its reliance on exports, underscoring the urgency to revive confidence at home where a prolonged property crisis has rippled ⁠through the economy, weighing on sentiment.

China will boost consumption and actively expand investment in new productive forces and people's overall development, the ministry said in a statement after a two-day meeting at which it set ⁠2026 goals.

In addition, Reuters quoted the ministry as saying that it will support innovation to foster new growth engines, and improve the social security system by providing better healthcare and education services.

Other tasks for next year include promoting integration between urban and rural areas, and propelling China's transformation into a greener society.

China is likely to stick to ⁠its annual economic growth target of around 5% in 2026, government advisers and analysts told Reuters, a goal that would require authorities to keep fiscal and monetary spigots open as they seek to snap a deflationary spell.

Leaders this month promised to maintain a "proactive" fiscal policy next year that would stimulate both consumption and investment to maintain high economic growth.

Business

Bulgaria Adopts Euro Amid Fear and Uncertainty

Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)
Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)
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Bulgaria Adopts Euro Amid Fear and Uncertainty

Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)
Customers shop in a grocery store in the village of Chuprene, northwestern Bulgaria on December 7, 2025. (Photo by Nikolay DOYCHINOV / AFP)

Bulgaria will become the 21st country to adopt the euro on Thursday, but some believe the move could bring higher prices and add to instability in the European Union's poorest country.

A protest campaign emerged this year to "keep the Bulgarian lev", playing on public fears of price rises and a generally negative view of the euro among much of the population.

But successive governments have pushed to join the eurozone and supporters insist it will boost the economy, reinforce ties to the West and protect against Russia's influence.

The single currency first rolled out in 12 countries on January 1, 2002, and has since regularly extended its influence, with Croatia the last country to join in 2023.

But Bulgaria faces unique challenges, including anti-corruption protests that recently swept a conservative-led government from office, leaving the country on the verge of its eighth election in five years.

Boryana Dimitrova of the Alpha Research polling institute, which has tracked public opinion on the euro for a year, told AFP any problems with euro adoption would be seized on by anti-EU politicians.

Any issues will become "part of the political campaign, which creates a basis for rhetoric directed against the EU", she said.

While far-right and pro-Russia parties have been behind several anti-euro protests, many people, especially in poor rural areas, worry about the new currency.

"Prices will go up. That's what friends of mine who live in Western Europe told me," Bilyana Nikolova, 53, who runs a grocery store in the village of Chuprene in northwestern Bulgaria, told AFP.

The latest survey by the EU's polling agency Eurobarometer suggested 49 percent of Bulgarians were against the single currency.

After hyperinflation in the 1990s, Bulgaria pegged its currency to the German mark and then to the euro, making the country dependent on the European Central Bank (ECB).

"It will now finally be able to take part in decision making within this monetary union," Georgi Angelov, senior economist at the Open Society Institute in Sofia, told AFP.

An EU member since 2007, Bulgaria joined the so-called "waiting room" to the single currency in 2020, at the same time as Croatia.

The gains of joining the euro are "substantial", ECB president Christine Lagarde said last month in Sofia, citing "smoother trade, lower financing costs and more stable prices".

Small and medium-sized enterprises stand to save an equivalent of some 500 million euros ($580 million) in exchange fees, she added.

One sector expected to benefit in the Black Sea nation is tourism, which this year generated around eight percent of the country's GDP.

Lagarde predicted the impact on consumer prices would be "modest and short-lived", saying in earlier euro changeovers, the impact was between 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points.

But consumers -- already struggling with inflation -- fear they will not be able to make ends meet, according to Dimitrova.

Food prices in November were up five percent year-on-year, according to the National Statistical Institute, more than double the eurozone average.

Parliament this year adopted empowered oversight bodies to investigate sharp price hikes and curb "unjustified" surges linked to the euro changeover.

But analysts fear wider political uncertainty risks delaying much needed anti-corruption reforms, which could have a knock-on effect on the wider economy.

"The challenge will be to have a stable government for at least one to two years, so we can fully reap the benefits of joining the euro area," Angelov said.

Business

Syria Prepares to Launch New Currency Amid Major Challenges

Syrian Central Bank Governor Abdulkader Husrieh (X)
Syrian Central Bank Governor Abdulkader Husrieh (X)
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Syria Prepares to Launch New Currency Amid Major Challenges

Syrian Central Bank Governor Abdulkader Husrieh (X)
Syrian Central Bank Governor Abdulkader Husrieh (X)

Syria’s central bank governor, Abdulkader Husrieh, said the new Syrian pound is not merely a means of exchange but a symbol of the success of the Syrian revolution, national belonging, and confidence in the country’s ability to recover.

In a Facebook post, Husrieh said that with the launch of the new currency, Syrians were not just celebrating a banknote, but also celebrating their sovereignty and national identity, noting that many international experiences show that national currencies become strong when people rally around them, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

He pointed to Germany’s experience, where the introduction of the mark after the war marked the starting point of economic recovery, and to France, where the new French franc became the financial symbol of the new republic, known as the Fifth Republic.

Husrieh said the central bank would carry out its role with a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities, while committing to responsibility, transparency, and the protection of the national currency. He added that the cornerstone remains public solidarity and trust, because a strong currency begins with the people's belief in it.

He called for turning the launch into a dignified national occasion through which Syrians express awareness, confidence, and adherence to the pound as a symbol of sovereignty and a national choice.

Husrieh added that supporting the pound is supporting the nation, and taking pride in it is a matter of pride in the future for Syrians and their children. He described the move as an opportunity for a new success following the success of the revolution in liberation and the lifting of economic sanctions that had shackled Syria’s economy for nearly fifty years.

Husrieh had recently announced that Jan. 1, 2026, would mark the launch of the new Syrian currency and the start of the exchange process for the old notes, with the exchange to be carried out through 66 companies and 1,000 designated outlets.

Restoring confidence

Political and economic researcher Bassel Kouwefi said the exchange plans, if well implemented, could serve as an entry point for rebuilding confidence in the national economy, encouraging domestic investment, and paving the way for broader reforms in the financial sector. However, he warned against failing to address the root causes of inflation and economic collapse during the previous regime's rule.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Kouwefi described currency exchange and the removal of zeros as complex economic measures.

He said their main benefits include simplifying daily transactions, reducing the volume of banknotes in circulation, boosting confidence in stability, lowering printing and transportation costs, simplifying accounting records and financial software, and reducing currency speculation driven by corruption networks seeking to undermine stability in Syria.

Kouwefi said the exchange plans, if well-executed, could help restore confidence in the macroeconomy, but stressed the challenges posed by failing to tackle the fundamental causes of past inflation and collapse, including fiscal deficits, instability, and weak production. He said a comprehensive economic and financial program was therefore essential.

He added that the process also requires strong banking infrastructure, an organized transition period, and sufficient liquidity in the new denominations.

He said these remain major challenges under current Syrian conditions, alongside the need to mitigate social impacts that could lead to public confusion, market exploitation, and difficulties for less informed segments of society.