Turkey draws USD 8.9 billion of FDI in 7 months The foreign direct investment (FDI) to Turkey showed no signs of slowing down despite the raging debt crisis in Europe and the political upheaval in the Middle East. The country attracted USD 8.9 billion of FDI in the first 7 months of 2012, an overwhelming majority of which, 77.4 percent, originated from Europe. “Turkey’s position as a popular destination for ...

Budget targets will not be met this year, according to Finance Minister Şimşek. The Finance Ministry has prepared a draft law that would introduce new tax hikes, focused on automobiles, tobacco products, real estate investment trusts and title deed fees, daily Zaman reported yesterday. The ministry drew up the draft after Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said this year’s budget targets will not be met. Work o ...

Turkey's economy grew slower than expected in the second quarter and a deeper slowdown is expected during the rest of the year as domestic demand weakens, raising pressure on the central bank to cut borrowing costs more aggressively. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.90 percent year-on-year, below a Reuters poll forecast of 3.25 percent, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute showed. First quarter gro ...

The automotive sector was not in the top 3 largest export industries in August. The Turkish Exporters’ Assembly’s (TİM) exports figures for August show a sharp decline in sales to Europe, which is in pace with the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) figures for a month earlier. The country’s exports engine automotive sector could not secure a place in top three in August, TİM has said. “We have maintained ...

Turkey in spite of all the political unrest and turmoil it has been going through for quite a while is not the same economically weak country it used to be years ago... This country is among the fastest developing economies in the world despite the global crisis that has put countries like Greece and Spain on their knees.. Turkey and its people have a never-ending energy that keeps the business world and ec ...

Turkey scores gold, silver in women's 1500m in Olympic games London 2012 Asli Cakir Alptekin led a shock 1-2 for Turkey when she won the women's Olympic 1500m on Friday in 4min 10.23sec, handing her country a first-ever gold medal in track and field. European champion Alptekin, who served a two-year doping ban from 2004-2006, kicked for home and held her nerve for gold ahead of fast-finishing teammate Gamze ...

Turkey’s tourism revenue for the second quarter of 2012 saw an increase of 3.8 percent compared to the year prior reaching, a total 5,576,155,275 dollars. An overwhelming 82.1 percent of tourism revenue was acquired from foreign visitors, while 17.9 percent was acquired from Turkish nationals residing abroad. The Turkish Statistical Institute has released Turkey's tourism statistics from the second term of ...

Central Bank Gov Erdem Başçı says that consumer inflation may take a downward path after it rose in June. The bank forecasts 6.2 percent year-end inflation. AA photoThe Turkish Central Bank has revised down its year-end inflation forecast, citing the falling downward trend in energy and food prices. “We have dropped our year-end inflation forecast buy 0.3 percent to 6.2 percent, based on the downward assump ...

The amount of foreign direct investment in Turkey may exceed $16 billion by the end of the year, the president of Turkey’s International Investors Association (YASED) has said. The Turkish economy has attracted $6.5 billion in foreign direct investment in the first six months of the year, Unilever Turkey Chief executive İzzet Karaca said, adding that Turkey can become a developed country without being a mem ...

OECD releases 2012 Turkey reports The Organization for Economic and Cooperation and Development (OECD) praised the structural and macroeconomic policies of Turkey in its 2012 Turkey report. The report says that Turkey's economy rebounded vigorously following the global crisis, adding, "The growth averaged close to 9 percent in 2010-11, with strong job creation. At the same time, the current account deficit ...

The Istanbul bourse is the best performer in the world so far this year.Turkey has continued to separate itself from debt-ridden Western economies with its high performing Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB), on the back of higher growth rates and other positive macroeconomic data. The Istanbul bourse has recorded the highest increase in value in the world, with 23 percent for the year to date, outscoring its cl ...

Inflation figures for May 2012 were announced by Turkey's Statistical Institute. Figures are excerpted down below: PRODUCER PRICE INDEX, MAY 2012 Monthly change in PPI was realised by 0,53%. A rise in general index was realised in the 2003 based Producer Price Index on the previous month by 0,53%, on December of the previous year by 1,27%, on same month of the previous year by 8,06% and on the twelve months ...

Inflation Report 2012-II New data releases in the inter-reporting period indicate that the balancing process in the economy continues as envisaged. Accordingly, loan growth has slowed down significantly since the second half of 2011, thereby improving the current account balance remarkably. Domestic demand growth was controlled in this period, while the contribution of net exports increased markedly. In oth ...

Turkish Airlines posts 29.3 million lira loss Turkish Airlines posted 29.3 million Turkish Liras in net losses in the first quarter of 2012, the national carrier told the Istanbul Stock Exchange in a recent statement. The airline had posted 18.5 million liras in profits in the first quarter of 2011. Meanwhile, the airline has announced that it will begin operating flights between Istanbul and Marseille in 2 ...

Turkey's tourism revenues down by 9.7 pct in Q1 Turkey's tourism revenues dropped by 9.7 percent in the first three months of 2012 compared to the same period of last year. Turkish Statistical Authority, TurkStat released on Friday tourism figures for the Q1 of 2012. Accordingly, tourism incomes were 2.79 billion U.S. dollars and tourism expenses were 759 million U.S. dollars in the first three months of 20 ...

Turkey is hosting many significant and prominent trade shows in 2012 as the country has been a true spot of attraction for international business people recently, in terms of industry, trade and tourism in particular. Companies such as TUYAP and CNR EXPO have been organizing some very important fairs with great success. EMITT Tourism Fair is among the most successful ones held every year, for instance. A no ...

OVERVIEW Recently, the measures taken to overcome the crisis in Euro Area, which is cited as the main threat to  global economic outlook, and the major central banks’ leaning towards monetary easing to support growth stimulated the capital inflows to emerging market economies. Central Bank of Turkey narrowed the interest rate corridor by decreasing the O/N lending rate. CBRT cited the Fed’s, ECB’s and some ...

The 12.6 billion dollar figure announced for March exports came as no surprise to Economy Minister Çağlayan. NOT AN APRIL FOOL'S JOKE “This figure is not an April Fool’s Day joke. Our 2012 target is to reach 150 billion dollars in exports.” Turkey's Minister of Economy Zafer Çağlayan expressed that the March export figure of 12.6 billion dollars announced by Turkey's Exporters Assembly (TİM) Chairman Mehmet ...

Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay stated yesterday that Istanbul would host the Alliance of Civilizations meeting on May 31, 2012. Speaking at the inauguration of a high level meeting at the UN Center in New York, Atalay said that the meeting to be held in Istanbul was an indication of Turkey's strong commitment to the Alliance of Civilizations project. Atalay also invited the UN members to participate in ...

MARBLE 2012, 18th International Natural Stone and Technology is going to be held in Izmir, on 21-24 March 2012. MARBLE was held in 1995 for the first time as the unique International Stone Exhibition of Turkey on which occasion 47 participants exhibited on an area of 2.600 sqm. Above figures have increased to1.160 exhibitors and 55.445 participants which is a good indication for the success of the event con ...

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is preparing to return to Istanbul after four years June 4-6, with a historic summit backed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which will bring together Europe and the East. The last WEF summit in Istanbul was in 2008, said Stephen Kinnock, the Europe and Central Asia Director of the forum, who is in charge of shaping the Istanbul program, talking to the daily Hürriyet re ...

While Spain and Greece struggles, Turkey takes the stage at the tourism fair. The International Tourism Exchange (ITB Berlin), one of the most prominent tourism organizations of the world, has opened its doors for the 46th time in Berlin, Germany which was marked by Turkey as in previous years. The Fair witnesses a competition between giants of the sector, namely, Turkey and Spain, while Egypt and Tunisia l ...

Turkey’s year on year inflation hits 10.43 percent in February, mainly because of a hike in taxes on cigarettes and alcoholic drinks in the last quarter of last year Turkey’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by 0.56 percent in February 2012 from a month earlier. On a year over year basis, inflation was up 10.43 percent on the back of alcohol and tobacco price increases. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİ ...