TÜSİAD issued a statement following release of the Gross Domestic Product figures for the first quarter of 2011, as follows:
"The strong growth trend in the Turkish economy that began in the last quarter of 2009 continued into the first quarter of 2011 with 11% annual GDP growth at constant prices. The period of growth has continued throughout the past six quarters with over-5% growth recorded in the period from Q4 2009 to Q3 2010 and more than 9% for the other four quarters. This period of rapid recovery and growth put Turkey in first place amongst all the economies of Europe, in terms of growth rates. With the 2011 first quarter results indicating a continuation of strong growth, Turkey gained first place in terms of growth of all the world’s economies.
This period of world record-breaking growth demonstrates the role of private sector dynamism as a major determining factor in the economy. And looking further into the components of growth, domestic demand at an annual 16.1% growth rate, private sector fixed capital formation expenditure at 38.3% annually, and consumer expenditure at 11.4%, all come to the fore.
The 27% growth in imports negated 7.7% export growth; external demand thus continued to be a negative factor in terms of GDP. The rate of import growth was larger than in the previous period and effectively put export growth in the shade, rendering external demand as a 5.5 point negative influence.
Examining this double-figure GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2011 in conjunction with current accounts in the same period, we note that the current account deficit now exceeds 8% of GDP. Looking at the growth figures from this perspective gives us an insight into how we need to keep a close eye on developments in strong domestic demand, as well as increasing commodity and energy prices, in the context of the sustainability of external balances and price stability.
In the light of these developments and in relation to the external balance, TÜSİAD maintains the optimistic scenario outlined at the start of the year together with its expectation of 6.6% growth for 2011, assuming a continuation of macro stability and price stability."
