Türkiye’s Trade Minister Ömer Bolat has said the national income would exceed the one trillion-dollar mark this year, asserting that the country was on track to join the world's top 10 economies in the coming years.
Addressing a meeting with businesspeople in Istanbul on Saturday, Bolat stressed that the momentum this year would see Türkiye ending with a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of over 4%.
The GDP expanded by larger than expected 3.8% in the second quarter, extending the streak despite the global setbacks following the outbreak of COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It followed a 3.9% growth in the first three months, reflecting massive earthquakes that devastated the country's southeast in February, killing over 50,000. Reconstruction should cost more than $100 billion.
Recalling the government's vision for 2053, Bolat stressed the determination to foster competitiveness and innovation, making structural transformations to position the economy among the top income group globally.
"Our goal is for Türkiye to be among the top 10 economies globally and within the top five in terms of purchasing power parity by 2053,” the minister told a separate event on Sunday.
Furthermore, he said they aim to support branding, aspiring to have at least five brands among the world's 100 most valuable.
"On the other hand, our goal is for our share of the global economy to exceed 2% in the year 2053, and this percentage to further increase when we include service trade in the calculation," Bolat said.
Bolat said exports had declined worldwide but Türkiye managed to maintain positive flow despite the February earthquakes.
"We are taking proactive measures in terms of imports. We are pursuing an active policy against informal imports that harm domestic and national industrial production, employment, and our foreign exchange reserves,” he said.
Bolat highlighted periods of increased demand due to extremely low-interest loans, stressing they had to revive the economy to avoid the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This move aimed to boost businesses, enabling them to increase sales and production. These measures were successfully implemented.”
The new economy team President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan named after the May elections reversed the yearslong easing cycle and aggressively hiked interest rates to conquer stubbornly high inflation, rebuild foreign currency reserves, and curb the chronic current account deficit.
Since June, the country's central bank hiked its key policy rate by a combined 2,150 basis points to rein in inflation, which rose 61.5% over 12 months ending in September.
Currently, Bolat said the government's top priority is combating high inflation, alongside the efforts to rebuild earthquake-stricken regions.
“By the end of this year, as promised, thousands of homes will be delivered to our fellow citizens affected by earthquakes," he noted.
On the international front, Bolat highlighted positive developments with the European Union, indicating a constructive dialogue aimed at resolving economic and trade-related issues.
"We are showing the same will. We are trying to resolve some of the problems within the customs union by discussing them," he said.
He said relations with Islamic countries "are at an excellent level."
"The Gulf countries are making a very serious effort about investments in Türkiye and trade. We are making the same effort."
