The government expects the Turkish economy to maintain its growth trend in the coming period despite global challenges, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said.

"We expect the economic growth trend to continue in the coming period, maintaining a balanced outlook. We will witness the strengthening of macroeconomic fundamentals and the permanent establishment of financial and price stability together," Nebati told Daily Sabah in an interview on Sunday.

Türkiye is one of the rare countries that is not experiencing a recession risk, the minister said, attributing it to the policies taken within the scope of the new economic program.

"The most important reason for this is that our economy, on the one hand, maintains a strong growth trend, and on the other hand, it maintains a balanced composition of growth," he added.

The government has been prioritizing low interest rates to boost exports, production, investment and create new jobs as part of the economic program called the Türkiye Economy Model, which aims to lower inflation by flipping the country’s chronic current account deficit to a surplus.

"While we continue to increase our employment and exports by making investments and value-added products with the Türkiye Economy Model, we are closer to our development goal than ever before," Nebati said.

The Turkish economy has been growing for the last eight quarters and expanded by a better-than-expected 7.6% year-over-year in the second quarter on strong domestic demand and exports.

The rate, which Nebati said came despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the weakening global economy, made Türkiye one of the fastest-growing economies in the G-20 and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

"The investments in machinery and equipment, which carried the uninterrupted growth process to the 11th quarter as of the second quarter of 2022, are a strong and concrete sign that our economy is progressing by increasing its productivity," the minister said.

Nebati also cited the strong contribution of annual exports, which he said reached $253.1 billion as of October, buoyant service exports and tourism revenues, which are expected to exceed even the pre-pandemic period by the end of the year.

He said employment increased by 5.5 million people as of September compared to the period when the pandemic was most severe, and by 1.3 million in the last year.

"Thus, the total employment has reached about 31 million people and continues to be well above the pre-pandemic period," he noted.

Last year, the economy bounced back strongly from the pandemic and grew by 11.4%, its highest rate in a decade.