Turkish statistical institute announces gross domestic product data

Releasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the first quarter of 2013, Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) announced yesterday that Turkey’s economy reached 28 billion and 75 million Turkish Liras by growing 3 percent in first quarter of the year.  GDP increased by 9.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same quarter of previous year and reached 357,854,000 Turkish Liras at current prices. Commenting on the data, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said that a 3-percent growth rate was above his expectations. "The growth in the first quarter is above my expectations, but it won’t be enough to achieve a 4-percent annual growth. I expect the growths in the second and third quarter to be higher," he said, indicating he still had hope for reaching the year-end targets. Caglayan stated that more economic growth was necessary in order to reach the goals set for 2023. "We have grown since the last quarter of 2009, which means we have experienced growth for 14 quarters. Although we are pleased with this economic growth, we continue to carry out our activities to ensure a stronger economy. Stronger growth, more prosperous people, better democratic standards and more unity and brotherhood are our indispensible principles," Caglayan said. Underlining the slowdown in export and import rates of all countries, Caglayan said the amount of exports made by the top exporter of the world, China, has increased only by 9 per mile.