UNCTAD revises growth forecast for Turkey

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has raised its 2024 growth forecast for Turkey from 2.9 percent to 3.5 percent.

UNCTAD published its report on the trajectory of global trade and development for April.

The report stated that UNCTAD has increased its global growth forecast for 2024 by 0.1 percentage points to 2.6 percent.

The report, which noted that the growth forecast for Turkey for 2024 was raised from 2.9 percent to 3.5 percent, also recalled that the country grew by 4.5 percent in 2023.

The UNCTAD report warned that low economic growth and trade disruptions in 2024 would affect economic development.

Pointing to declining investments and stagnant global trade dynamics, the report drew attention to the fact that economic growth would slow down further in 2024, while noting that the possibility of lowering interest rates could improve the financial outlook for governments and companies.

Emphasizing that monetary policy alone cannot solve all urgent global challenges, the report pointed to ongoing crises related to public debt, growing inequalities, and climate change.

The UNCTAD report emphasized the need for multilateral joint action, along with a balanced policy mix consisting of fiscal, monetary, demand-side, and investment-boosting measures to ensure fiscal sustainability, create employment, and improve income distribution.

Recalling that central banks in most developed economies have aggressively raised interest rates since the beginning of 2022 to combat inflation, the report stated, “However, this approach did not fully take into account supply chain bottlenecks linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing market dominance that led to higher prices and profits. The decline in inflation in 2023, despite stable employment, shows that not only demand but also supply-related issues contributed to previous inflation.”

News Source: AA