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EKONOMİK
FORUM
What does the
2017-2019
Medium-term
Economic
Program offer?
P
rime Minister Binali Yıldırım un-
veiled the government’s 2017
budget and 2017-2019 Medium-term
Economic Program (MEP), both fo-
reseeing an increase in the invest-
ment segment of public spending.
According to the Program, the bu-
dget deficit is expected to increase
up to 1.9% of GDP in 2017. The adjus-
ted ratio for the end of 2016 is 1.6%.
The downward revision of eco-
nomic growth expressed in the MEP
caught attention in the market. The
government revised its 2016 growth
forecast from 4.5% down to 3.2%. It
also cut down its 2017 growth fore-
cast from 5% in the former MEP down
to 4.4%.
T
he Union of Chambers and Com-
mod i t y Exchanges of Tur key
(TOBB) held its Board meeting at TOBB’s
Twin Towers with the participation of
Finance Minister Naci Ağbal. Making a
speech the meeting, TOBB Chairman
M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “The pre-
dicaments we experienced recently
gave the Turkish private sector a remar-
kable opportunity to prove to the rest
of the world how strong the Turkish
economy actually is.” Stating that the
Turkish economy is quickly recovering
and going its own way, Chairman M. Ri-
fat Hisarcıklıoğlu added, “In this period,
we need to optimize the dialogue and
cooperation between the public and
private sectors.”
Optimize
public-private
sector cooperation