Boyner, speaking to the Anatolia news agency yesterday, evaluated recently released economic growth and industrial production figures. The most important component of growth is indeed the rise in efficiency, she said, adding that the “current rise in industrial production, especially compared to last year, is very strong. I hope we will see the economy grow more than expected.”
According to data released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) yesterday, the industrial production index, an indicator of manufacturing performance, rose 18.1 percent in the second month of the year over February 2009. The latest data also revealed that the Turkish economy saw 6 percent growth in the final quarter of 2009 over the same months of 2008, well above expectations, while the economy only contracted by 4.7 percent in 2009 over 2008, a figure many believed would be far worse.
Even though the industry is an important indicator of growth for national income, Boyner stressed that there are still numerous factors affecting gross domestic product (GDP). It is for this reason that GDP is “not likely to rise this fast,” she said. Boyner, emphasizing the importance of increasing productivity to assure long-term growth in the national economy, said current figures related to industry have raised their hopes that the year has in fact started off positively.
