ISTANBUL: Turkey predicts annual real economic growth at 4.3pc on average between 2019-2023, it said on Monday in an ambitious five-year development plan promising efficiency and competitiveness.

Turkey's economy shrunk 2.6pc in the first three months of 2019, after 3pc contraction in the last quarter of 2018, following last year's currency crisis which erased 30pc of the lira's value against the US dollar and sent inflation to a peak.

The development plan said the first year would be "rebalancing" followed by upwards growth rates.

Gross domestic product is targeted to reach $1.08 trillion by 2023, the plan said, compared to $784.09 billion in 2018, according to official data.

The plan expects annual exports to reach $226.6 billion in 2023 versus 2018 exports of $168 billion. It also foresees 9.9pc unemployment at the end of 2023, while it also predicts Turkey will create 4.3 million additional jobs over the period.

The current account deficit, a concern for many economists which makes Turkey reliant on foreign currency inflows, is expected to stand at $9.9 billion by 2023.

The current account recorded a deficit of $27.63 billion at the end of 2018.

Annual consumer inflation is targeted to stand at 5pc by 2023, the plan also said. The latest official data put inflation at 15.72pc in June.

Turkey has been issuing such development plans every five years since the 1960s.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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