By Felix Nkambeh Tih
ANKARA
Turkey's GDP will move steadily higher from 2015 through 2016, a European Commission forecast said.
Turkey's GDP grew at a surprisingly fast rate at the beginning of the year, but slowed down in the second quarter, according to the European Economic Forecast published Tuesday in Brussels
The report says growth is expected to increase by 3.3 percent in 2015, up from 2.8 percent growth in 2014, as domestic demand recovers gradually.
Increasing demand will also drive growth higher in 2016 by 3.7 percent, the forecast says.
The projected contribution from exports to GDP growth will remain strong for the current year and will grow by 5 percent in 2016 compared with 4.4 percent in 2015.
Imports are also projected to rise by 5.5 percent in 2016, compared with 3.7 percent in 2015, up from -1.0 per cent in 2014.
The forecast projects that government debt will increase in 2014 due to much slower revenue growth, then drop over the next two years as economic activity and revenue growth pick up again.
The report says that the employment rate will rise by 3.2 percent in 2016 compared with 3 percent in 2015.
Turkey is the largest national economy in Central and Eastern Europe, a complex mix of modern industry and commerce along with a traditional agriculture sector that still accounts for about 30 percent of employment.
Turkey's economy has slowed in pace with the global economic slowdown in the past year.
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