Turkey recorded higher than expected economic Q1 growth

Turkey recorded higher than expected economic Q1 growth

The State Institute of Statistics (SIS) announced the 2003 first quarter results. According to this announcement, 8.1% growth in GDP and 7.4% growth in GNP is recorded during the first three months of the year. The market expectations were lower at around 6% for both GDP and GNP. On a sectoral basis, the growth at fixed prices is mainly seen in institutions other than construction, financial and non-profit institutions. The figures indicate that the private final consumption expenditures continued to rise in the first quarter of this year with 6.5%, while the public final consumption expenditure decreased by 3%. The private sector investments appear to have contributed to the growth wit 20.4% growth. According to the analysts' comments, the change in stocks was the main driver of the growth recorded in the first quarter. No growth was observed in the public sector with a growth rate of 0%. The growth seen in production have also contributed to the first quarter growth, turning out to be above the market expectations with 10.8% increase in trade and 7% increase in the agricultural production.