Business News

ANKARA, Dec 12, (APP/AFP) – The Turkish economy shrank
by nearly two percent in the third quarter as consumer spending and exports plunged, data showed Monday, the first year-on-year contraction in 27 quarters since 2009.
The Turkish Statistics Office said gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.8 percent compared with the same period in 2015 causing an immediate fall in the lira.
The contraction follows weaker consumer spending which the office said decreased by 3.2 percent in the last quarter while exports of goods and
services fell by 7.0 percent.
The release is one of the strongest signs yet that political instability in the aftermath of the July 15 coup bid is affecting consumer confidence.
This is the first set of numbers after the office said last week it would change the way it calculates GDP figures in line with European Union
Regulations (ESA 2010).
Thus the base year used is now changed from 1998 to 2009 and the changes mean in nominal terms, Turkey’s GDP is now larger by 20 percent, Ozgur Altug at BGC Partners said in a note.
The last time Turkey recorded negative growth was in 2009 when the country entered recession.
Monday’s figures also come as the country’s tourism industry is under
severe strain after multiple terror attacks blamed on Islamic State jihadists and Kurdish militants and the July 15 failed coup.