Turkish economy to grow by 5% in Q1: Finance minister

* World economy will grow in 2021 due to base effect, reflecting on Turkey positively, says Lutfi Elvan, Turkey’s minister of finance.
In the light of leading indicators, the Turkish economy is forecast to grow by 5% in the first quarter of 2021, the country’s treasury and finance minister said.
Speaking during a televised interview with news channel NTV, Lutfi Elvan said this year would mark more positive developments regarding the gross domestic product (GDP) and Turkey will see a double-digit growth rate in the first quarter due to the base effect.
Economic activities, industrial boom, and export potential have been progressive in 2021, he said.
The minister underlined: “It is clear that we need to move in a very controlled and moderate way to ensure financial stability.”
He recalled that Turkey’s economy was one of two economies among G20 countries which achieved post GDP growth with China.
Touching on the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the outbreak is one of the most important events in the last century, devastating the world economies.
All countries have faced serious problems and a very high amount of borrowings have occurred in this period, he said, adding global debts have increased by $24 trillion during the pandemic.
Elvan said the world economy will also post a significant GDP growth in 2021 due to the base effect and this growth will reflect positively on Turkey, especially on the export side.
Mentioning supply chains problems globally, he stressed that it is obvious that a multipolar supply system should be created instead of a China- and Far East- based supply center.
Turkey has significant advantages at this point with its strategic location, human sources, dynamic population, and strong financial structure, the minister stated.
All transactions available in Turkish Central Bank’s balance sheet
Speaking about the $128 billion foreign exchange reserves of the Turkish Central Bank, Elvan said all the movements can be seen clearly and transparently in the bank’s balance sheet.
“The bank used required reserves and foreign exchange trading from time to time to ensure financial stability and to make the monetary transmission mechanism work better.”
Touching on a protocol signed between the Treasury and the Central Bank in 2017 to coordinate foreign exchange transactions, he said the bank carried out foreign exchange buying and selling through the treasury accounts under the protocol and it was legitimate.