Turkish growth slackens in second quarter

AFP, ISTANBUL: Turkey’s economy grew 3.1 per cent in the second quarter, slowing sharply from the strong figure of the first quarter in a potentially worrying development for the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, statistics showed Friday. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown a revised 4.7 percent on the first quarter of 2016, a figure that surprised economists who feared the economy would be hurt by the country’s political and security instability.
The growth figure of 3.1 percent for the second quarter meant that the economy grew 3.9 percent in the first half of 2016. Growth in 2015 was
4.0 per cent.
The key driver of the continued growth in Turkey was household consumption, which grew 5.2 percent in the second quarter but well down on the first quarter, according to the data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute.
Government consumption expenditure also ticked up almost 16 percent.
But analysts said that the slowdown in growth in the second quarter—which was sharper than expected by the markets—could be a harbinger of difficult times ahead for the economy.

Turkish growth slackens in second quarter

AFP, ISTANBUL: Turkeys economy grew 3.1 per cent in the second quarter, slowing sharply from the strong figure of the first quarter in a potentially worrying development for the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, statistics showed Friday. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had grown a revised 4.7 percent on the first quarter of 2016, a figure that surprised economists who feared the economy would be hurt by the countrys political and security instability. The growth figure of 3.1 percent for the second quarter meant that the economy grew 3.9 percent in the first half of 2016. Growth in 2015 was 4.0 per cent. The key driver of the continued growth in Turkey was household consumption, which grew 5.2 percent in the second quarter but well down on the first quarter, according to the data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute. Government consumption expenditure also ticked up almost 16 percent. But analysts said that the slowdown in growth in the second quarterwhich was sharper than expected by the marketscould be a harbinger of difficult times ahead for the economy.