Türkiye’s economic confidence index in May rose to the highest level in the last 20 months, official data showed Monday, maintaining an upward trend after a slight fall in February following massive earthquakes.
The index rose 1.4% to 103.7 in May on a monthly basis, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) said. It fell slightly in February to 99.1 points, following the tremors that devastated the country's southern region, killing over 50,000 people.
Elaborating on the data, Treasury and Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said they expect investment, production and consumption to continue to increase.
Nebati said the environment clouded by uncertainty stemming from elections is being left behind as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan won a new five-year mandate on Sunday.
Erdoğan is set to rule until 2028 after securing over 52% of the vote in the presidential runoff, two weeks after he fell short of scoring an outright victory in the first round.
Erdoğan's governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and its allies secured a parliamentary majority in the May 14 vote.
“With the completion of the parliamentary elections and the election of our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, by our nation once again, the perception of uncertainty caused by the election agenda has also been left behind,” Nebati wrote on Twitter.
“Thus, we expect the confidence in our economy to strengthen further in the coming period; investment, production and consumption will increase by the strengthening,” he added.
The TurkStat data showed that three of five sub-indexes posted increases in May, one declined, and one was flat.
The biggest monthly change was seen in the construction index, jumping 4.3% to 92.2. The consumer and retail trade confidence indexes were up 4% and 0.4% to 91.1 and 116.7, respectively.
The services confidence index dipped 0.6% to 117.4, while the real sector confidence was flat at 105.1.
The economic confidence index encapsulates consumers' and producers' evaluations, expectations and tendencies about the general economic situation.
The index points to an optimistic outlook when above 100 and a pessimistic one when below. It had hit a record low in 2020 before recovering as COVID-19 measures were eased.
