A busy economic agenda awaits Turkey this week, with several crucial announcements of data expected. While the growth, export and inflation figures will be revealed, the eyes of millions of employees and employers will also be on the Minimum Wage Determination Commission, which will hold its first meeting on Dec. 1.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) will announce the growth figures for the third quarter of the year on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Periodic gross domestic product (GDP) data for the July-September period will be announced at 10 a.m. local time.
Economists participating in the Anadolu Agency (AA) Finance Growth Expectation Survey expect GDP to grow by 8.1% in the third quarter.
The Turkish economy grew by 21.7% in the second quarter of the year, reaching the highest growth figure in the new series since 1999.
TurkStat will also announce the economic confidence index for November on Monday. While the index was 102.4 in September, it decreased by 1% to 101.4 in October.
Another closely followed announcement will be the export and inflation figures, which are expected to be revealed on the same day.
The Ministry of Commerce is set to announce provisional foreign trade data for November, on Dec. 3. Turkey's exports increased by 20.2% in October compared to the same month of the previous year, standing at $20.8 billion (TL 258.45 billion). With this value, "the highest monthly export figure in the history of the republic" was achieved.
TurkStat will also announce the consumer price index and the domestic producer price index for the month on Friday, Dec. 3. The consumer price index increased by 19.89% annually and 2.39% monthly in October.
The Minimum Wage Determination Commission will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 1, to determine the minimum wage that will be effective as of Jan. 1, 2022.
Unemployment figures will be announced on Friday, Dec. 10. TurkStat will announce the labor force statistics for October. The unemployment rate stood at 11.5% in September with a 0.3 percentage point decrease compared to the same month of the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) in December will announce the text of the "2022 Monetary and Exchange Rate Policy." This text is of great importance in terms of determining the monetary and exchange rate policies for the next year. Accordingly, the calendar for next year's financial stability and inflation reports and Monetary Policy Committee meetings will be determined.
The last Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the year will be held on Thursday, Dec. 16. In its previous meeting, the committee decided to reduce the one-week repo rate, also known as the policy rate, from 16% to 15%.
The central bank will announce the balance of payments data for Oct. on Monday, Dec. 13.
The Central Government Budget Law Proposal for 2022, which was accepted by the Planning and Budget Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), will be enacted after the discussions in the General Assembly.