The Turkish Economy in 2000-2010: “Not a Lost Decade, But Vulnerabilities Exist” Economist Eken stated that growth was not inclusive enough and rapid growth did not remedy unemployment.

ANKARA –Turkey’s economic performance in the first decade of the 2000s was brought to the table at TEPAV. Dr. Sena Eken, Retired Senior Economist at the IMF and the co-author of the book “Turkey 2000-10: A Decade of Transition - Discussions Among Experts” stated that the 2000-2010 period was not a lost decade for Turkey as it was for most of the world while attention had to be paid to vulnerabilities.

The launch of the book published by the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEİK) and coauthored by Dr. Sena Eken and Susan Schadler was held at TEPAV on Monday, 14 January 2013. The meeting was moderated by Professor Serdar Sayan of TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Department of Economics and director at TEPAV.

Sharing the key findings of the study with the audience, Eken emphasized that Turkey’s often-praised growth performance was not as successful as it was perceived. Within this context, she stressed that growth was not inclusive enough and fell short in remedying high unemployment. At the end of the day, however, the period did not mark a lost decade for Turkey as it did for many countries in economic terms. The period was commonly considered transformational for Turkey during which the economy became more resilient to economic shocks thanks to macroeconomic stability. Low debt and high fiscal surplus worked as automatic stabilizers when the global crisis hit Turkey.  On the other hand, macroeconomic success brought certain vulnerabilities, with low and declining savings and high and rising current account deficit being the key areas of weakness.

Sayan addressed the impact of legal problems

The meeting continued with the questions and contributions from the audience. After the question and answer session, Prof. Serdar Sayan commented briefly on the problems of Turkey’s legal system and their impact on the economic performance. He underscored that legal problems hindered foreign direct investments, the promotion of partnerships, and employment.

Please click here for the book “Turkey 2000-10: A Decade of Transition- Discussions Among Experts