Turkish GDP growth rebounds strongly at 3.5%

Roaring back to life.

Turkey’s economic growth bounced back far better than expected at the end of the year, wiping out its worst quarterly contraction since the financial crisis.

Annual GDP expanded by 3.5 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the same period last year, rebounding from the 1.8 per cent slump in the third quarter in an economy besieged by a host of political and security concerns last year. Economists polled by Bloomberg had expected growth of 1.9 per cent.

Overall expansion in 2016 came in at 2.9 per cent according to figures from Turkstat, above expectations of 2.2 per cent expansion in the calendar year.

The Turkish economy had fallen into reverse in the aftermath of a failed coup in July, which has driven tourists away from the country and pushed its currency to all-time lows. But signs of a recovery at the end of 2016 suggest the weak exchange rate has helped cushion some parts of the economy from a severe slowdown.

Despite slowing growth, the country’s central bank was forced to raise interest rates in November and January to help support the lira.

The lira was unchanged on the news, holding its gains of 0.3 per cent against the dollar.